State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title31 > Chap557 > Sec31-40tSec. 31-40t. Employee's right to act in case of hazardous conditions. Complaints to and investigations by Labor Commissioner. Hearings. Regulations. (a) As used in this section:
(1) "Person" means one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, limited liability companies, business trusts, legal representatives or any organized group of persons;
(2) "Employer" means a person engaged in business who has employees, including the state and any political subdivision of the state;
(3) "Employee" means any person engaged in service to an employer in a business of his employer;
(4) "Hazardous condition" means a condition which (A) causes or creates a substantial risk of death, disease or serious physical harm, whether imminent or as a result of long-term exposure, and which is beyond the ordinary expected risks inherent in a job after all feasible safety and health precautions have been taken, and (B) results from the employer's violation of applicable safety and health standards established under any federal, state and local laws and regulations, any collective bargaining agreements and any industry codes.
(b) No employer shall discharge, discipline or otherwise penalize any employee because the employee (1) informs another employee that such other employee is working in or exposed to a hazardous condition or (2) refuses in good faith to expose himself to a hazardous condition in the workplace, provided (A) the condition causing the employee's apprehension of death, disease or serious physical harm is of such a nature that a reasonable person, having the knowledge, education, training and experience necessary for the performance of the employee's job, under the circumstances confronting the employee, would conclude that there is a hazardous condition, (B) there is insufficient time, due to the urgency of the situation, to eliminate or abate the hazardous condition through resort to regular statutory enforcement procedures, (C) the employee notifies the employer of the hazardous condition and asks the employer to correct or abate the hazardous condition and (D) the employer is unable or refuses to correct or abate such condition. No employee shall be discharged, disciplined or otherwise penalized while a hazardous condition continues to exist or is in the process of being corrected or abated.
(c) Any employee who believes that there is a violation by his employer of any provision of this section may file a written complaint with the Labor Commissioner within one hundred eighty days of the alleged violation. The complaint shall be signed and shall set forth with reasonable particularity the grounds for the complaint. Within thirty days after receipt of such complaint, the Labor Commissioner shall notify the employer in writing of the complaint. The commissioner, or his authorized representative, upon presenting appropriate credentials to the employer, operator or agent in charge, may inspect, at reasonable times, the employer's workplace and all conditions pertinent to the grounds of the complaint and shall, in a reasonable manner, make any additional investigation deemed necessary by the commissioner or his representative for full and effective determination of any complaint he receives.
(d) If, upon inspection or investigation of a complaint, the Labor Commissioner or his authorized representative believes that an employer has violated any provisions of this section, he shall hold a hearing and shall, at least thirty days prior to the date of such hearing, mail a notice of such hearing to the employer and the employee. The commissioner shall resolve all issues relating to any dispute arising under the provisions of this section.
(e) The Labor Commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to implement the provisions of this section.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish or impair the rights of any person under any collective bargaining agreement.
(P.A. 91-33; P.A. 92-27; P.A. 95-79, S. 110, 189.)
History: P.A. 92-27 amended Subsec. (a)(2) to include the state and any political subdivision of the state in the definition of "employer"; P.A. 95-79 amended Subsec. (a) to redefine "person" to include limited liability companies, effective May 31, 1995.
Cited. 243 C. 66.
