AN ACT CONCERNING ADVANCED NOTICE OF AN EMPLOYEE'S WORK SCHEDULE BY AN EMPLOYER.

Senate
sSB436 / File No. 212 1

General Assembly File No. 212
February Session, 2026 Substitute Senate Bill No. 436

Senate, March 26, 2026

The Committee on Labor and Public Employees reported
through SEN. KUSHNER of the 24th Dist., Chairperson of the
Committee on the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill
ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING ADVANCED NOTICE OF AN EMPLOYEE'S
WORK SCHEDULE BY AN EMPLOYER.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) As used in this section and 1
sections 2 to 9, inclusive, of this act: 2
(1) "Employee" means an individual who is employed (A) in a retail 3
establishment, food services establishment or hospitality establishment, 4
or (B) as a nursing assistant or orderly at a long-term health care services 5
establishment. "Employee" does not include an individual who is 6
exempt from the minimum wage and overtime compensation 7
requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and regulations 8
promulgated thereunder, as amended from time to time; 9
(2) "Employer" means any person that is (A) a retail establishment, 10
hospitality establishment or long -term health care services 11
establishment that employs five hundred or more employees within the 12
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United States or globally, or (B) a food services establishment that 13
employs five hundred or more employees within the United States or 14
globally and has thirty or more locations within the United States or 15
globally. "Employer" includes a franchisee that is part of a network of 16
franchises within the United States and globally that employs five 17
hundred or more employees in the aggregate; 18
(3) "Franchisee" has the same meaning as provided in section 42-133e 19
of the general statutes; 20
(4) "Food services establishment" means food services and drinking 21
places, as defined under code 722 of the 2022 North American Industry 22
Classification System; 23
(5) "Hospitality establishment" means hotels and motels, as defined 24
under code 721110 of the 2022 North American Industry Classification 25
System, and casino hotels, as defined under code 721120 of the North 26
American Industry Classification System; 27
(6) "Long -term health care establishment" means nursing care 28
facilities, as defined under code 623110 of the 2022 North American 29
Industry Classification System; 30
(7) "Nursing assistant" means nursing assistant, as defined in Section 31
31-1131 of the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational 32
Classification system or any successor system; 33
(8) "On -call shift" means the specific and consecutive hours an 34
employer requires an employee to be available to work and for which 35
the employer requires the employee to either contact the employer or 36
wait to be contacted by the employer to determine whether the 37
employee must report to work; 38
(9) "Orderly" means orderly, as defined in Section 31 -1132 of the 39
federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification 40
system or any successor system; 41
(10) "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, joint 42
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stock company, trust, firm, business, nonprofit agency, corporation, 43
limited liability company or any other entity employing any person; 44
(11) "Regular rate" has the same meaning as provided in section 31 -45
76b of the general statutes; 46
(12) "Regular shift" means the specific and consecutive hours an 47
employer schedules an employee to work; 48
(13) "Retail establishment" means the fixed point of sale location for 49
an establishment defined under sectors 44 to 45 of the 2022 North 50
American Industry Classification System; and 51
(14) "Work schedule" means the regular shifts and on -call shifts an 52
employer assigns to an employee, including the dates, times and 53
location of such regular and on-call shifts. 54
Sec. 2. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) (a) Prior to the start of 55
employment, an employer shall obtain a written statement from a new 56
employee that includes the days and times the employee is available to 57
work and the employee's desired number of weekly scheduled work 58
hours. An employee may request to modify such written statement at 59
any time during employment and an employer may grant or deny any 60
such request for any bona fide business reason. 61
(b) Prior to the start of employment, an employer shall provide a new 62
employee with a good faith written estimate of the employee's 63
anticipated work schedule that includes the average number of hours 64
the employee can expect to work in an average week and the days and 65
times of regular and on-call shifts the employee can expect to work each 66
week. An employer shall revise such estimate when there is a significant 67
change in the employee's availability or to the employer's business 68
needs. An employer shall not be in violation of this section if an 69
employee's scheduled hours for any given week exceed the average 70
number of hours provided in the written estimate, provided such 71
employer has made every effort to schedule the employee for such 72
employee's desired number of weekly scheduled work hours. 73
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Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) An employer shall provide 74
an employee with notice of the employee's work schedule not later than 75
fourteen days prior to the first date of any work schedule. Such notice 76
may be provided by (1) posting the work schedule in a conspicuous 77
place, accessible to employees, at such employer's place of business, or 78
(2) transmitting the work schedule by electronic means. For a new 79
employee, an employer shall provide such employee with the 80
employee's initial work schedule not later than the date of the 81
employee's first scheduled shift for the period commencing on the date 82
of the employee's first scheduled shift and ending on the last day of the 83
seven-day period covered by the latest posted or transmitted work 84
schedule. If an employer makes changes to an employee's work 85
schedule after such work schedule is posted or transmitted, such 86
changes shall be subject to the notice requirements set forth in 87
subsection (b) of this section and the compensation requirements set 88
forth in subsection (d) of this section. 89
(b) An employer shall provide an employee with notice of any 90
employer-requested change to such employee's work schedule made 91
after the advanced notice required pursuant to subsection (a) of this 92
section. Such notice shall be provided in writing, as soon as possible and 93
prior to the start of any amended or added regular or on -call shift. An 94
employer shall revise the posted or transmitted work schedule to reflect 95
such change not later than twenty-four hours after making such change 96
to the work schedule. An employee may decline to work any regular or 97
on-call shifts not included in the posted or transmitted work schedule. 98
If an employee consents to working any such shifts, such consent shall 99
be in writing. 100
(c) At any time after the advanced notice required pursuant to 101
subsection (a) of this section, an employee may request, in writing, that 102
the employer add one or more regular or on -call shifts to such 103
employee's schedule or to swap shifts with another employee. Any 104
changes made to the employee's work schedule resulting from such 105
employee-requested schedule change shall not be subject to the notice 106
requirements of subsection (b) of this section. 107
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(d) An employer shall provide the following compensation to an 108
employee for each employer -requested change that occurs to the 109
employee's work schedule without adherence to the notice 110
requirements in subsection (b) of this section: 111
(1) One hour of pay at such employee's regular rate of pay, in addition 112
to wages earned, when the employer: 113
(A) Adds one or more hours to an employee's regular or on-call shift; 114
(B) Changes the date, start or end time or location of an employee's 115
regular or on-call shift without a reduction of hours; or 116
(C) Schedules the employee for an additional regular or on-call shift. 117
(2) One-half of such employee's regular rate of pay per hour for each 118
scheduled hour the employee does not work when the employer: 119
(A) Subtracts hours from the employee's work shift before or after 120
such employee reports to work; 121
(B) Cancels the employee's regular shift; or 122
(C) Changes the date, start or end time or location of an employee's 123
regular or on-call shift, resulting in a loss of hours. 124
(e) The compensation requirements of subsection (d) of this section 125
shall not apply when: 126
(1) An employee mutually agrees with another employee to an 127
employee-initiated shift swap or coverage. Such employee -initiated 128
shift swap or coverage shall be subject to any existing employer policy 129
regarding shift swapping or shift coverage; 130
(2) An employer makes changes to an employee's work schedule at 131
the employee's request pursuant to subsection (c) of this section; 132
(3) An employee requests to use sick leave, vacation leave or other 133
leave, subject to an employer policy regarding employee use of leave; 134
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and 135
(4) An employer's operations are unable to begin or continue due to: 136
(A) The failure of a public utility; 137
(B) A fire, flood or other natural disaster; or 138
(C) An emergency declaration issued by the President of the United 139
States or the Governor. 140
Sec. 4. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) (a) No employer shall 141
schedule or require an employee to work during the following rest 142
periods: 143
(1) The first eleven hours following the end of the previous calendar 144
day's regular or on-call shift; or 145
(2) The first eleven hours following the end of a regular or on -call 146
shift that spanned two calendar days. 147
(b) An employee may consent to work any hours during the rest 148
periods described in subsection (a) of this section, provided such 149
consent is in writing. For any hour or portion of an hour an employee 150
works during the rest periods described in subsection (a) of this section, 151
an employer shall compensate such employee at one and one-half times 152
the employee's regular rate of pay. 153
Sec. 5. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) (a) Prior to hiring a new 154
employee from an external applicant pool, including hiring through the 155
use of a contractor, including temporary help service or employment 156
agency, as defined in section 31-129 of the general statutes, an employer 157
shall offer available shifts to existing employees and make every effort 158
to schedule such employer's current employees for such current 159
employees' desired number of weekly scheduled work hours identified 160
in the written statement provided by such employees pursuant to 161
section 2 of this act. 162
(b) An employer may hire individuals from an external applicant 163
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pool if such employer's current employees lack and cannot obtain with 164
reasonable training the qualifications necessary to perform the duties of 165
the position being filled or scheduling current employees would require 166
the employer to pay such employees at an overtime rate under state or 167
federal law. 168
(c) If an employer fails to offer such employer's current employees 169
opportunities to work such employees' desired number of weekly 170
scheduled work hours identified in an employee's written statement 171
provided pursuant to section 2 of this act before hiring an new employee 172
from an external applicant pool or through use of a contractor, such 173
employer shall provide compensation to an affected current employee 174
for any hours on such written statement worked by a newly hired 175
employee. Such compensation shall be at the current employee's regular 176
hourly rate. 177
Sec. 6. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) An employer subject to the 178
provisions of sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act shall keep and maintain 179
a true and accurate record of each employee's work schedule and any 180
revisions to such work schedule. Such records shall be maintained for a 181
period of three years and shall be open to inspection by the Labor 182
Commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, at any reasonable time. 183
Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) The Labor Commissioner may 184
adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the 185
general statutes, to implement and enforce the provisions of sections 2 186
to 6, inclusive, of this act. 187
Sec. 8. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) An employee aggrieved by 188
a violation of the provisions of sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act, a 189
collective bargaining agent on behalf of an employee aggrieved by a 190
violation of the provisions of sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act or the 191
Labor Commissioner may file a complaint in the Superior Court to 192
recover compensatory damages, civil penalties and such equitable and 193
injunctive relief as the court deems appropriate. In addition, the court 194
may award reasonable attorney's fees and costs. 195
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(b) An employer who violates the provisions of sections 2 to 5, 196
inclusive, of this act may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than 197
two hundred dollars per violation. Any civil penalty assessed under this 198
subsection shall be paid to the Labor Department. 199
(c) In addition to any damages, or as an alternative to, any relief 200
ordered pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the court may (1) issue 201
an order of compliance to an employer who violates any provision of 202
sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act, or (2) award the following on a per-203
employee or per -instance basis: (A) For a violation of sections 2 to 4, 204
inclusive, of this act, statutory damages of not more than two hundred 205
dollars; and (B) for a violation of section 5 of this act, statutory damages 206
of not more than three hundred dollars. 207
Sec. 9. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) A whistleblower may, on 208
behalf of the state, bring a civil action in the Superior Court against a 209
covered employer who violates the provisions of sections 2 to 5, 210
inclusive, of this act to recover damages, civil penalties and equitable 211
and injunctive relief described in section 8 of this act. The state may 212
intervene in an action brought under this section not later than thirty 213
days after the commencement of such action. After thirty days, the state 214
may intervene with permission from the court. 215
(b) Prior to bringing a civil action under this section, a whistleblower 216
shall give written notice to the Labor Commissioner, in a form and 217
manner prescribed by the Labor Commissioner. Such notice shall state 218
the alleged violation of sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act. Not later 219
than thirty days after receipt of such notice, the commissioner shall issue 220
a decision stating whether the whistleblower may proceed with the civil 221
action on behalf of the state or if the Labor Department will be pursuing 222
such action. 223
(c) Any damages awarded to a whistleblower in a civil action brought 224
under this section shall be distributed as follows: (1) Seventy -five per 225
cent to the Labor Department for enforcement of the provisions of 226
sections 2 to 7, inclusive, of this act, and (2) twenty -five per cent to the 227
whistleblower who brought such action. In addition to any damages 228
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awarded, the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a 229
whistleblower who prevails in an action brought under this section. 230
(d) The court shall review any settlement agreement in a civil action 231
brought under this section to determine whether such settlement 232
agreement is fair, adequate, reasonable and in the public interest. 233
(e) No provision of a contract shall impair the right of an individual 234
to bring an action under this section. 235
(f) Any action brought under this section shall be tried promptly and 236
without regard to concurrent adjudication of private claims. 237
(g) If any part of a whistleblower's claim brought under this section 238
is ordered or submitted to arbitration or is resolved by way of final 239
judgment, settlement or arbitration in favor of the employee, the 240
whistleblower shall retain standing to recover penalties for violations 241
suffered by employees in any forum having jurisdiction over the claim. 242
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 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 4 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 5 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 6 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 7 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 8 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 9 October 1, 2026 New section

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1, "and" was changed to "to" for accuracy, in Section 3(e)(3),
"An employee's request" was changed to "An employee requests" for
clarity, and in Section 3(e)(4), "An employer's operations inability" was
changed to "An employer's operations are unable" for clarity.

LAB Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO

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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:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Labor Dept. GF - Potential
Revenue Gain
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill provides multiple protections for employees in certain
industries and occupations against on-call shift scheduling.
Section 8 results in a potential revenue gain to the Department of
Labor to the extent violations are found and penalties are paid. The bill
establishes a penalty of up to $200 per violation.
The bill also allows certain parties to bring a civil action in Superior
Court to enforce the bill’s provisions and results in no fiscal impact to
the Judicial Department. The court system disposes of over 250,000 cases
annually and the number of cases is not anticipated to b e great enough
to need additional resources.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to violations found and penalties paid.

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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 436

AN ACT CONCERNING ADVANCED NOTICE OF AN EMPLOYEE'S
WORK SCHEDULE BY AN EMPLOYER.

SUMMARY
This bill generally requires employers with at least 500 employees in
specified sectors (retail, food service, hospitality, or certain occupations
in long-term health care services establishments) to pay employees
when the employer, without meeting certain notice requirements, (1)
cancels or reduces scheduled hours or (2) adds work hours or changes
the date, time, or location of a work shift without reducing hours.
The bill applies to employees who are not exempt from minimum
wage or overtime rules. It allows exceptions to these requirements
under certain circumstances, such as when an employee makes a written
request for leave; employees mutually agree to swap shift s; or during
power outages or a declared state of emergency.
Under the bill, covered employers must (1) try to schedule existing
employees for their desired number of weekly hours before hiring a new
employee and (2) pay an existing employee for the hours a newly hired
employee works during the existing employee’s written availability.
The bill requires that an employer and new employee take certain
steps to establish a work schedule, including the employer (1) obtaining
the employee’s requested schedule in writing and (2) providing them
with an initial schedule estimate. The bill also permits employees to
request a modification of their written statement of preferred hours at
any time. It sets requirements for covered employers on posting and
distributing work schedules for existing employees and giving notice
about schedule changes. It also prohibits an employer from requiring an
employee to work any hours not included in a posted work schedule or
a shift that begins less than 11 hours after the employee’s previous shift
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ended (unless the employee provides written consent).
The bill authorizes the labor commissioner, an aggrieved employee,
or an aggrieved employee ’s collective bargaining agent to file a
complaint in Superior Court for, among other things, compensatory
damages and other relief. It also permits the court to (1) order employers
who violate the bill’s requirements to comply, (2) assess civil penalties
to be paid to the Department of Labor (DOL) for each violation, and (3)
award certain statutory damages and other relief to the aggrieved
employee.
Finally, the bill includes whistleblower provisions that allow
someone with knowledge about an alleged violation to bring a civil
action in court on the state’s behalf, after providing written notice to the
labor commissioner. The bill specifies that any court-awarded damages
in favor of a whistleblower must be distributed as follows: (1) 75% to
DOL for enforcement and (2) 25% to the whistleblower (in addition to
any reasonable attorney’s fees and costs).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
§ 1 — COVERED EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS
Under the bill, an employee is a person who is not exempt from
minimum wage and overtime pay rules and is employed in a:
1. “retail establishment,” which is a fixed point of sale location for
establishments defined in the 2022 North American Industry
Classification System’s (NAICS) retail trade sector (sectors 44-45),
such as grocery stores, department stores, pharmacies, hardware
stores, home furnishing stores, and office supply stores;
2. “food services establishment,” such as food services and drinking
places (NAICS code 772);
3. “hospitality establishment,” which is a hotel or motel (NAICS
72110) or casino hotel (NAICS 721120); or
4. “long-term health care services establishment,” which includes
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skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, nursing homes,
retirement and rest homes with nursing care, inpatient hospices,
and group homes for people with disabilities with nursing care,
(NAICS 623110), but only those working as a nursing assistant
(federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational
Classification System Section 31-1131) or an orderly (BLS 31-
1132).
Under the bill, an employer is a:
1. retail establishment, hospitality establishment , or long -term
health care services establishment that employs 500 or more
employees within the United States or globally or
2. food services establishment that employs 500 or more employees
within the United States or globally and has 30 or more locations
within the United States or globally.
The employer may be an individual, business, or nonprofit, or any
other entity employing people. It includes any franchisee in a franchise
network that, in total, employs at least 500 employees in the United
States and globally.
§ 2 — EMPLOYEE SCHEDULE REQUEST AND EMPLOYER
SCHEDULE ESTIMATE
The bill requires that employers get a written statement from new
employees, before their employment starts, on the days and times they
are available to work and their desired number of scheduled weekly
work hours. It allows an employee to ask to adjust the written statement
at any time and an employer must either grant or deny the request based
on a bona fide business reason.
The bill also requires an employer to, before a new employee’s
employment begins, give them a good faith written estimate of the
employee’s anticipated work schedule . The work schedule estimate
must include the average number of hours and the days and times of
regular and on-call shifts they can expect to work in a week. Employers
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must update this estimate when there is a significant change in the
employee’s availability or employer’s business needs.
Under the bill, an employer does not violate this provision when it
schedules an employee for more hours than the average stated in the
written estimate if it made every effort to schedule the employee for
their desired number of weekly scheduled hours. (The bill does not
specify what constitutes making “every effort.”)
§§ 3 & 4 — EMPLOYEE’S WORK SCHEDULE
Under the bill, an employer must give a new employee his or her
initial work schedule by the day of the employee’s first shift. The
schedule must cover the period starting on the date of the first shift and
ending on the last day of the seven-day period covered by the employer-
posted or -sent work schedule required by the bill (see below). After
that, the employer must notify the employee about the employee’s work
schedule as the bill requires.
Under the bill, a “work schedule” is the employee’s assigned regular
and on-call shifts and the shifts’ dates, times, and locations. An “on-call
shift” is the specific and consecutive hours when (1) a covered employer
schedules an employee to be available for work and (2) the employee
must either contact the employer or wait to be contacted by the
employer to see if they must go to work. A “regular shift” is the specific
and consecutive hours that a covered employer schedules an employee
to work.
Posting Work Schedules
The bill requires an employer to give employees notice of their work
schedules at least 14 days before the first day on the work schedule.
Under the bill, the employer can provide this notice by either (1)
conspicuously posting the work schedule in a place accessible to
employees at their place of business, or (2) sending it out electronically.
Any changes the employer makes to an employee’s work schedule after
posting or sending it are subject to the notice and compensation
requirements described below.
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Notice of Work Schedule Changes
Under the bill, an employer must give an employee written notice
about any change it is requesting to make to the employee’s work
schedule after the advance notice described above. It must give this
notice as soon as possible and before the start of any changed or added
regular or on-call shift.
Within 24 hours after revising the work schedule, the employer must
revise the posted or sent schedule to reflect the changes. The employee
can either (1) decline to work any regular or on-call shift not included in
the posted or sent schedule or (2) agree, in writing, to work these shifts.
Declining Shifts With Less Than 11 Hours Between Shifts
The bill prohibits employers from scheduling or requiring an
employee to work during the first 11 hours after the (1) employee’s
previous regular or on -call shift ended or (2) regular or on -call shift
ended, if it lasted more than a day . But the employee can consent , in
writing, to work hours during these rest periods and the employer must
pay the employee one and one-half times their regular rate of pay.
Work Schedule Adjustment Requests
Under the bill, any time after the employer posts or sends the work
schedule, an employee may request in writing (1) that the employer add
one or more regular or on-call shifts to their schedule, or (2) a shift swap
with another employee. The bill specifies that employee -requested
schedule changes are not subject to its notice requirements.
§ 3 — PAY FOR WORK CANCELLATION AND ADDITIONAL WORK
HOURS
Required Pay
The bill generally requires employers to pay employees for changing
their work schedules without complying with the notice requirements
described above. Specifically, an employer must pay an employee one
hour of pay at the employee’s regular pay rate, in addition to their
earned wages, when the employer:
1. adds one or more hours to an employee’s regular or on-call shift;
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2. changes the date, start or end time , or location of an employee ’s
regular or on-call shift without a reduction of hours; or
3. schedules the employee for an additional regular or on-call shift.
An employer must pay one half of an employee’s regular pay rate per
hour for each schedule d hour the employee does not work when the
employer:
1. subtracts hours from the employee’s work shift before or after the
employee reports to work;
2. cancels the employee’s regular shift; or
3. changes the date, start or end time , or location of an employee ’s
regular or on-call shift, resulting in a loss of hours.
Under the bill, an employee’s “regular rate” of pay includes all
remuneration for employment paid to the employee, besides, among
other things, (1) sums paid as gifts or (2) irrevocable employer
contributions to a benefit plan ( such as for retirement or health
insurance).
Exceptions
Under the bill, an employer does not have to pay an employee for
cancelling, reducing, or adding to the employee’s scheduled work hours
without following the bill’s notice requirements under the following
circumstances:
1. the employee requests to use sick, vacation, or other leave ,
subject to the employer’s leave policy;
2. employees mutually agree to a shift swap or coverage
arrangement, subject to any applicable existing employer policy;
3. the employer makes changes to an employee’s work schedule at
their request, as described above; or
4. the employer cannot operate due to a (a) public utility failure; (b)
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fire, flood, or other natural disaster; or (c) state of emergency
declared by the president or governor.
§ 5 — LIMIT ON HIRING NEW EMPLOYEES
The bill generally requires an employer, before hiring a new
employee, to make every effort to offer available shifts to existing
employees and schedule existing employees for their desired number of
weekly work hours identified in their written scheduling requests.
These conditions apply to an employer that hires from an external
applicant pool, including through a contractor, temporary help service,
or employment agency.
Under the bill, this requirement does not apply if (1) the employer’s
current employees lack the qualifications to perform the duties of the
position being filled and cannot get them with reasonable training or (2)
scheduling current employees would require overtime pay for them
under state or federal law.
Under the bill, if an employer does not offer existing employees the
opportunity to work their desired number of weekly hours before hiring
a new employee, the employer must pay an affected current employee
at his or her regular hourly rate for any hours the newly hired employee
works during the existing employees’ written availability. (It is not clear
how long this requirement to pay existing employees for the hours new
employees work applies.)
§ 6 — RECORDS REQUIREMENT
The bill requires employers to keep and maintain true and accurate
records of each employee’s work schedule and any revisions for three
years and allows the labor commissioner or her designee to inspect the
records at any reasonable time.
§ 7 — DOL REGULATIONS
The labor commissioner may adopt regulations to implement and
enforce the bill’s provisions.
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§ 8 — ENFORCEMENT AND REMEDIES
The bill allows the labor commissioner, an aggrieved employee, or
the aggrieved employee’s collective bargaining agent to file a complaint
in the Superior Court to seek compensatory damages , equitable and
injunctive relief, civil penalties, and attorney’s fees and costs. It allows
the court to assess a civil penalty of up to $200 per violation on
employers that violate the bill’s work scheduling, additional pay, and
new employee hiring requirements (as described below).
In addition to any damages, or as an alternative to this relief, the court
may order an employer to comply with these requirements or award up
to the following amounts on a per-employee or per-instance basis:
1. $200 for violating the bill’s work scheduling requirements,
including failing to (a) get an employee’s schedule request, (b)
give an employee a work schedule estimate, (c) allow an
employee to ask to modify the schedule request at any time , (d)
post or send the required notice of the work schedule, (e) give
notice of employer -requested schedule changes, or (f) comply
with the bill’s rest period requirements (§§ 2-4);
2. $200 for violating th e bill’s requirement that employers give
employees additional pay for changing their schedules without
the required notice (§ 4); and
3. $300 for violating the bill’s limits on hiring new employees (§ 5).
§ 9 — WHISTLEBLOWER AND JUDGMENT PROVISIONS
The bill permits a whistleblower to, on behalf of the state, bring a civil
action in the Superior Court against a covered employer who violate s
the bill’s work scheduling, additional pay , and new hire requirements
to recover damages, civil penalties, and equitable and injunctive relief,
as described above.
The bill requires the whistleblower, before bringing the action, to give
written notice to the labor commissioner , in a way she sets , stating the
alleged violation. Within 30 days of receiving this notice, the
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commissioner must decide whether the whistleblower may proceed
with the action on the state’s behalf or if DOL will pursue it. The bill also
allows the state to intervene in a whistleblower action up to 30 days after
it has begun and , with the court’s permission , after 30 days. The bill
requires that 75 % of any court -awarded damages go to DOL for
enforcement and 25% go to the whistleblower who initiated the action,
if the whistleblower prevails (in addition to reasonable attorney’s fees
and costs).
Under the bill, the court must review any settlement agreements for
civil actions brought under the bill to determine if the agreement is fair,
adequate, reasonable, and in the public interest.
The bill also specifies that (1) the right to bring an action under the
bill cannot be impaired by any private contract and (2) an action under
the bill must be tried promptly and without regard to concurrent
adjudication of private claims. If any part of a whistleblower’s claim
brought under the bill is (1) ordered or submitted to arbitration or (2)
resolved by way of final judgment, settlement, or arbitration in favor of
the employee, the employee whistleblower retains standing to recover
penalties for violations suffered by other employees in any forum with
jurisdiction over the claim.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 9 Nay 4 (03/12/2026)