Proposed Labor Mandates Meet Varying Fates

Several bills that would adversely affect Connecticut employers died in the final hours of the legislative session this week, while some made it into the next two-year state budget. 

Senate Democrats announced two main labor priorities at the beginning of the session: allowing striking workers to collect unemployment benefits and banning or limiting the use of productivity metrics in warehouse distribution centers.

SB 8, which bundled the unemployment benefits and warehouse proposals, was recently amended to exclude the warehouse restrictions.

The controversial measure later passed both chambers, clearing the Senate on a party line vote while 13 Democrats joined Republicans to oppose the bill in the House.

Gov. Ned Lamont has said publicly on a number of occasions that he will veto the bill, saying it “sends a terrible signal.”

CBIA and several other business groups and chambers of commerce sent a veto letter to the governor June 5 urging him to veto SB 8. 

Warehouse, Noncompete Mandates Die

HB 6907, which restricts warehouse distribution centers from using certain productivity metrics, passed the House, with two Democrats voting with Republicans in opposition.

The Senate failed to act on the bill prior to the session’s June 4 adjournment.

Several other bills were approved by the Labor and Public Employees Committee, including HB 7196, which severely limited employer use of noncompete agreements.

The bill threatened an employer’s ability to protect proprietary information. It was not called for a vote in either chamber, along with SB 1035, which banned the use of most nondisclosure agreements.

CBIA joined a group calling for @GovNedLamont to veto a bill allowing striking workers to collect unemployment, noting "while workers have the right to organize, bargain collectively, and strike, that should not be subsidized by employers—nor taxpayers." https://t.co/jHBoXO7Ag8

— CBIA (@CBIANews) June 5, 2025

While Connecticut has some of the most transparent laws in the nation when it comes to employee rights, the Labor Committee voted along party lines to pass two salary disclosure and paycheck transparency bills.

HB 7197 required all employers to post an internal webpage with all paycodes associated with each position within a company.

HB 6517 mandated that employers post all job openings internally and externally, with a more detailed salary range and benefits analysis included.

Both bills required employers to spend significant administrative hours regularly updating paycodes and salary ranges, and in some cases would need to hire additional employees to keep up with the new laws.

Neither measure was called for a vote in the House.

AI, Prevailing Wage

Another Labor Committee bill requiring employers to regularly train and educate employees on heat exposure illness was amended into a study.

SB 830, which initially mandated that employers adjust scheduled work times and hire additional employees in certain weather conditions, was combined with other proposals in SB 1274, which passed the Senate but was not acted on in the House.

With artificial intelligence regulation as a top legislative priority for both House and Senate Democrats, several committees developed their own regulatory proposals, many significantly impacting businesses.

SB 1484, which required employers to contract with third parties to run impact analysis statements each time an AI system is implemented, and limited an employer’s ability to use AI in certain scenarios, passed out of committee but was not taken up for a vote in either chamber. 

Several committees developed their own AI regulatory proposals, with many significantly impacting businesses.

The Labor Committee also passed two bills along party lines that made significant changes to construction liability and prevailing wage rates for offsite fabrication on public works projects.

HB 6955, which shifted legal and financial liability of unpaid wages to employees of subcontractors to the general contractor, was not taken up for a vote in either chamber.

SB 1370, requiring that employees performing offsite fabrication on public works projects be paid prevailing wage rates, was not called for a vote as a stand alone bill in the Senate.

However, the proposal was included in the state budget.

“While there were several concerning measures that came out of the Labor Committee, we were able to work with committee leadership on both sides of the aisle to find compromise, and in some cases, bring more clarity to the impact on businesses,” said CBIA’s Paul Amarone.

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For more information, contact CBIA’s Paul Amarone (860.244.1978)