AN ACT CONCERNING A CONTRACTOR'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR UNPAID WAGES ON A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT.

House of Representatives
HB5275 / File No. 91 1

General Assembly File No. 91
February Session, 2026 House Bill No. 5275

House of Representatives, March 19, 2026

The Committee on Labor and Public Employees reported
through REP. SANCHEZ, E. of the 24th Dist., Chairperson of
the Committee on the part of the House, that the bill ought to
pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING A CONTRACTOR'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR
UNPAID WAGES ON A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) For the purposes of this 1
section and section 31-72 of the general statutes, as amended by this act: 2
(1) "Construction contract" means any contract entered into on or 3
after October 1, 2026, for construction, renovation or rehabilitation in the 4
state, including any improvements to real property that are associated 5
with such construction, renovation or rehabilitation, or any subcontract 6
for construction, renovation or rehabilitation between an owner and a 7
contractor, a contractor and a subcontractor or between a subcontractor 8
and another subcontractor. "Construction contract" does not include (A) 9
any public works or other contract entered into with any agency or 10
department in the state, another state or a federal agency or department, 11
or (B) a home improvement contract for (i) the construction, renovation 12
or rehabilitation of an owner-occupied residence or the property where 13
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such residence is located, or (ii) the construction, renovation or 14
rehabilitation of a one -family or two -family dwelling unit or the 15
property where such dwelling unit is located, except when such contract 16
is for the construction of more than fifteen one -family or two -family 17
dwelling units at one project site; 18
(2) "Contractor" means any individual, firm, partnership, 19
corporation, association, company, organization or other business 20
entity, including, but not limited to, a construction manager, general or 21
prime contractor, joint venture or any combination thereof that has a 22
direct contractual relationship with an owner; 23
(3) "Employee" has the same meaning as provided in section 31 -71a 24
of the general statutes; 25
(4) "Owner" has the same meaning as provided in section 42 -158i of 26
the general statutes; 27
(5) "Subcontractor" means any individual, firm, partnership, 28
corporation, association, company, organization or other business entity 29
or any combination thereof that (A) does not have a direct contractual 30
relationship with an owner, and (B) (i) is a party to a construction 31
contract with a contractor, (ii) is a party to a construction contract with 32
another subcontractor that has a direct contractual relationship with a 33
contractor, or (iii) performs any portion of work at any tier within the 34
scope of a construction contract regardless of whether such 35
subcontractor has a direct contractual relationship with a contractor; 36
and 37
(6) "Wages" has the same meaning as provided in section 31 -71a of 38
the general statutes. 39
(b) A contractor that enters into a construction contract shall be jointly 40
and severally liable for any unpaid wages due to an employee of a 41
subcontractor for such employee's performance of labor included within 42
the scope of the construction contract. 43
(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a contractor from including 44
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in any construction contract between such contractor and a 45
subcontractor a provision establishing a remedy for any liability created 46
by the nonpayment of wages by a subcontractor, provided such 47
provision does not diminish the right of an employee to bring an action 48
under section 31-72 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, and 49
does not waive or release any liability assigned to a contractor under 50
this section. No such provision to waive or release liability assigned to 51
the contractor under this section shall be enforceable. 52
Sec. 2. Section 31 -72 of the general statutes is repealed and the 53
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 54
(a) When any employer fails to pay an employee wages in accordance 55
with the provisions of sections 31 -71a to 31 -71i, inclusive, or fails to 56
compensate an employee in accordance with section 31-76k or where an 57
employee or a labor organization representing an employee institutes 58
an action to enforce an arbitration award which requires an employer to 59
make an employee whole or to make payments to an employee welfare 60
fund, such employee or labor organization shall recover, in a civil action, 61
(1) twice the full amount of such wages, with costs and such reasonable 62
attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court, or (2) if the employer 63
establishes that the employer had a good faith belief that the 64
underpayment of wages was in compliance with law, the full amount of 65
such wages or compensation, with costs and such reasonable attorney's 66
fees as may be allowed by the court. Any agreement between an 67
employee and his or her employer for payment of wages other than as 68
specified in said sections shall be no defense to such action. The Labor 69
Commissioner may collect the full amount of any such unpaid wages, 70
payments due to an employee welfare fund or such arbitration award, 71
as well as interest calculated in accordance with the provisions of section 72
31-265 from the date the wages or payment should have been received, 73
had payment been made in a timely manner. In addition, the Labor 74
Commissioner may bring any legal action necessary to recover twice the 75
full amount of unpaid wages, payments due to an employee welfare 76
fund or arbitration award, and the employer shall be required to pay the 77
costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court. 78
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The commissioner shall distribute any wages, arbitration awards or 79
payments due to an employee welfare fund collected pursuant to this 80
section to the appropriate person. 81
(b) When a subcontractor fails to pay an employee wages for labor 82
performed within the scope of a construction contract entered into on or 83
after October 1, 2026, the employee, or a labor organization representing 84
the employee, may bring a civil action under this section against either 85
the subcontractor, the contractor or both the subcontractor and 86
contractor. Not less than thirty days prior to bringing a civil action 87
under this section, if a contractor is a party in such action, an employee 88
shall provide notice of an alleged violation by the subcontractor to such 89
contractor. Such notice shall describe the general nature of the alleged 90
violation. No employee shall be required to provide notice pursuant to 91
this subsection if such employee has previously given notice to a 92
contractor of either the same violation or a prior violation by the same 93
subcontractor. Any notice provided to a contractor pursuant to this 94
subsection shall not limit the liability of the contractor or preclude 95
subsequent amendments of an action brought under this section to 96
encompass additional employees employed by the subcontractor. For 97
purposes of this section, "construction contract", "contractor" and 98
"subcontractor" have the same meanings as provided in section 1 of this 99
act. 100
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2026 31-72

LAB Joint Favorable

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill, which makes contractors liable for unpaid wages owed to
employees of subcontractors that perform work on any portion of
certain construction contracts, does not result in any fiscal impact to the
state or municipalities.1
Section 2 allows an employee and other designated parties to bring
civil action against a contractor for unpaid wages. The court system
disposes of over 250,000 cases annually and the number of cases is not
anticipated to be great enough to need additional resources.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

1 Current law, unchanged by the bill, allows employees to sue an employer for failure
to pay wages or fringe benefits, and may be awarded up to twice their unpaid wages,
related costs, and attorney's fees (CGS § 31-72).
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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5275

AN ACT CONCERNING A CONTRACTOR'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR
UNPAID WAGES ON A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT.

SUMMARY
For certain construction contracts executed on or after October 1,
2026, this bill makes a construction contractor jointly and severally liable
for any unpaid wages owed to a subcontractor’s employee working
within the contract’s scope.
Under the bill, if the subcontractor fails to pay such an employee,
either the employee or a labor organization may sue the subcontractor,
the contractor, or both. If the contractor is a party in the suit, the
employee must give the contractor at least 30 days’ advance notice about
the subcontractor’s alleged violation before suing. The notice must
describe the alleged violation’s general nature. However, the employee
does not have to give this notice if he or she has previously given the
contactor notice a bout the same violation or a prior violation by the
same subcontractor. The bill specifies that the notice does not limit the
contractor’s liability or prevent subsequent amendments to the suit to
include more of the subcontractor’s employees.
The bill also specifies that it does not prohibit a construction contract
between a contractor and subcontractor from including a provision
establishing a remedy for any liability created by a subcontractor’s
nonpayment of wages, as long as it does not (1) diminish an employee’s
right to bring a lawsuit for unpaid wages or (2) waive or release any
liability assigned to the contractor under the bill. Additionally, the bill
makes any provision to waive or release liability assigned to the
contractor unenforceable.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
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CONTRACTS, CONTRACTORS, AND SUBCONTRACTORS
Under the bill, a “construction contract” is a contract entered into on
or after October 1, 2026, for construction, renovation, or rehabilitation in
the state, including any improvements to real property associated with
it. It includes those contracts betw een an owner and a contractor, a
contractor and a subcontractor, or between subcontractors. It does not
include:
1. public works or other contracts by the state, another state, or the
federal government or
2. home improvement contracts to build, renovate, or rehabilitate
(a) an owner-occupied residence or property where it is located
or (b) one - or two -family dwelling units or properties unless
there are more than 15 of them at one project site.
Under the bill, “contractors” are business entities, including
construction managers, general or prime contractors, joint ventures, or
combinations of them, that have a direct contractual relationship with
an owner (the owner of record or lessee of real pr operty where the
construction, renovation, or rehabilitation will be or is being done).
A “subcontractor” is a business entity that does not have a direct
contractual relationship with an owner but:
1. is a party to a construction contract with the contractor;
2. is a party to a construction contract with another subcontractor
that has a direct contractual relationship with the contactor; or
3. does any work at any tier within the construction contract’s
scope, regardless of whether it has a direct contractual
relationship with a contractor.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 9 Nay 4 (03/05/2026)