Governor Lamont and the Connecticut Department of Labor announced that the state minimum wage will increase to $15.69 per hour on January 1, 2024, six months after rising to $15 per hour this past June. This increase is the first index-based adjustment to occur under legislation signed in 2019. That law provided for phased-in increases […]
Can an employer fire an employee for cursing out the boss? Complaining about pay? Backing the “wrong” political candidates? Posting racist rants on Facebook? These situations are not uncommon in the workplace and employers must be prepared to navigate the complicated terrain of employee speech protections while maintaining order in the workplace. This article busts […]
Starting November 1, 2023, all employers will be required to use a new I-9 Form, the form used to verify an employee’s eligibility to work in the United States. I-9s must be completed on all new hires who will perform work in the United States. Employers may switch to the new form now or may […]
First, breathe. Many employers (and virtually all large employers) in Connecticut face a CHRO charge at some time. The filing of a charge does not mean that you or your employees are bad people, are going to jail, or are going to have to pay out a massive verdict. Factually or legally baseless charges are, unfortunately, quite common. While […]
Compliance and risk mitigation are some of the reasons an organization should adopt a code of ethics. As previously discussed, there are a multitude of good reasons to adopt a code of ethics to guide the behavior of employees and organizational leadership. Once an organization decides to adopt a code of ethics, they are faced with the […]
The complicated landscape of laws governing criminal background checks can turn some employers away from engaging in the process at all. This can seem like it is working well, until you uncover that you just hired a convicted con artist to handle your billing or someone with a history of burglary to work at your […]
Under the Connecticut Paid Sick Leave Law, public and private Connecticut employers with 50 or more employees are required to provide paid sick leave to certain employees referred to as “service workers.” The law applies to private businesses, boards of education, municipalities, non-profits, and other employers, excluding manufacturers and a narrow group of non-profits. Most […]
From the U.S. Supreme Court to the proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, the importance of organizational ethics has recently been in the news. The character, habits, and customs of an organization define how the organization functions and is viewed in the eyes of others. A strong commitment to ethics breeds trust and confidence. […]
Are you paying your employees correctly? Are you hoping your payroll company is ensuring all aspects of your wage-and-hour compliance? Are you on autopilot from decisions made by your office manager more than a decade ago? With liquidated damages and penalties, an audit from the Department of Labor or a wage and hour lawsuit from […]
From time to time, we receive emails from clients seeking advice on whether an information request should be classified as a request under the Municipal Employees Relations Act (MERA) or the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It is crucial to properly distinguish between the two laws as conflating them or treating a request under […]
