Effective October 1, 2010, two new laws are strengthening the
protections available to family violence victims in the workplace
and require virtually all employers in Connecticut to provide
employees who are victims of domestic violence with up to 12 days
of family violence leave per calendar year. On June 7, 2010,
Governor M. Jodi Rell signed House Bill 5497 (P.A. 10-144), a
comprehensive domestic violence bill that adopts a number of
recommendations made by the bipartisan Speaker of the House of
Representatives' Task Force on Domestic Violence, including two
specific provisions affecting Connecticut employers.
The new law amends Section 54-85b of the General Statutes; enhances
existing protections for crime victims at work; and now more
explicitly prohibits an employer from refusing to hire,
terminating, penalizing, threatening, or otherwise retaliating
against any employee because the worker is a victim of family
violence or because the employee attends or participates in a court
proceeding related to a civil case in which he or she is a victim
of family violence. The bill also doubles, from 90 to 180 days, the
time an employee has under the statute to bring a civil action
against an employer and provides for mandatory attorney's fees
if the employee prevails. The statute already provides for fines
and criminal penalties, including imprisonment, for employers who
violate this law.
Another section of the bill gives employees a new right to take
"family violence leave," by requiring all Connecticut
employers with three or more workers to provide family violence
victims with at least 12 days of paid or unpaid leave if reasonably
necessary to:
- seek medical care or psychological or other counseling for physical or psychological injury or disability,
- obtain services from a victim services organization,
- relocate due to family violence reasons, or
- participate in any civil or criminal proceeding related to or resulting from such family violence.
The new law does not require employers to pay the employee while
on leave but permits employees to use their accrued compensatory
time, vacation time, personal days, or other paid time off in
connection with the leave. The bill also specifies that this new
leave does not affect any other rights available to workers under
state or federal law. The law allows employers to require no more
than seven days' notice when the need to use leave is
foreseeable and notice as soon as practicable when it is not. Other
provisions of the law permit employers to require a signed written
statement certifying that the leave is for an authorized purpose
and to request from the employee certain evidence, including police
or court records and/or written statements from attorneys, medical
professionals, social workers, and/or victim services
organizations. Finally, the provisions of the bill also require an
employer to protect from disclosure and maintain in strict
confidence any information provided by the employee in response to
the employer's request.
Like the statute protecting crime victims at work, the new family
violence leave statute provides eligible employees who are denied
the leave or otherwise retaliated against for requesting or using
it with a civil cause of action. The employee has 180 days from the
occurrence of such action to bring a civil action seeking damages,
reinstatement, or an order rescinding any adverse employment action
taken. If the employee prevails, the court must award the employee
reasonable attorney's fees.
Connecticut employers covered by these laws should revise their
personnel policies and procedures to be consistent with the new
requirements. It would also be prudent for employers to seek advice
of counsel when creating a family violence leave policy or updating
existing non-retaliation provisions to comply with the new
laws.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.