Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Insight on Labor & Employment Developments for Connecticut Businesses

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Shipman & Goodwin

Daniel Schwartz

Gary S. Starr

Latest from Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Employment Law Checklist Project: Thou Shall Not Prohibit Employees From Talking About Their Salary

By Daniel Schwartz on October 16, 2019

At our Shipman & Goodwin Labor & Employment Law seminar last week, one of the hot topics that got attendees talking was about minimum wage & overtime rules — both of which are in the midst of change. But my fellow partners brought up another law in that discussion that shouldn’t be overlooked. And that provides a nice entry way into this week’s Employment Law Checklist Project #emplawchecklist. The law is set forth at…

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Paid FMLA – The Many Questions That Lie Ahead

By Daniel Schwartz on October 15, 2019

On Friday, I presented a program on “Paid FMLA: Does It Leave You Confused?” at my firm’s semi-annual Labor & Employment Law Seminar, along with my Shipman & Goodwin colleague Chris Neary. Suffice to say that while the pun was well received, we had a number of attendees who left the seminar understanding that the breadth and scope of the state’s new Paid FMLA law may be far greater than they previously understood. Even now,…

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Employment Law Checklist Project: No More Than Six Days of Work in a Week But….

By Daniel Schwartz on October 10, 2019

workerswomen — Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

How many days in a row can an employee work? That’s the question we’ll tackle in this installment of the Employment Law Checklist Project. #emplawchecklist It’s actually a question I first asked right before Yom Kippur twelve years ago so it seems appropriate to revisit this today with the holiday this week. The short answer is actually 12 — even though the law seems to suggest 6. And even 12 may not be the right…

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Hearing Set for Thursday on Restaurant Tip Credit Bill, Days after DOL Proposed Guidance

By Daniel Schwartz on October 9, 2019

A hearing is set for Thursday on draft legislation to “fix” a bill that had been earlier vetoed and that I discussed in a post earlier this week. CTNewsJunkie.com was first to report on the details earlier Wednesday. The bill comes at an interesting crossroads in restaurant wage/hour law. Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Labor released proposed guidance that would give restaurants far greater latitude in deciding on tip pools and the…

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Restaurant Wage and Hour Bill Remains in Limbo: Here’s A Modest Proposal

By Daniel Schwartz on October 8, 2019

So a few months ago, I got a call from a CTDOL employee asking if I knew about a certain bill that had passed the legislature. I was still reviewing the bills but decided to take a deeper look. As it turned out, a deal had been struck to insert language in the last few hours into an otherwise procedural bill that gave restaurants some needed protection from very costly wage & hour lawsuits that…

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Sexual Harassment Prevention Training: Free CHRO Online Program Now Available

By Daniel Schwartz on October 7, 2019

Just wrapped up a trial so hoping to get these blog posts with a little more frequency. On October 1, 2019, the new training requirements on sexual harassment prevention became effective. I’ve recapped them before here in my “Definitive Employer Guide to Connecticut’s New Anti-Sexual Harassment Law” post from June. I noted then that all employers with three or more employees must train all of their employees by October 1, 2020 (or within six months of…

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

It’s Alive! Summary Judgment Lives in Employment Discrimination Cases

By Daniel Schwartz on September 13, 2019

Can an employer ever win a motion for summary judgment on a discrimination case in state court? The prevailing wisdom is no. A fool’s errand, some might say. But a new Connecticut Appellate Court case (Alvarez v. City of Middletown) shows at least what’s possible. The case has some details that stand out. The Plaintiff was a probationary police officer who was seeking a more permanent position. In the course of his employment, he…

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

12 Years Later … Employment Law and Employment Law Blogs Continue to Grow Up

By Daniel Schwartz on September 12, 2019

Has it really been a dozen years? Yes, it was 12 years ago today that I clicked “Publish” and put up my Welcome message to the Connecticut Employment Law Blog. At the time, I was the first platform to discuss employment law issues with a focus on Connecticut. Now, it seems like every lawfirm has taken its newsletters and slapped a “blog” label on it and voila! Lots of employment law blogs. What’s interesting…

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

How Small Things Still Matter – A 9/11 Story

By Daniel Schwartz on September 11, 2019

What makes an employee file a lawsuit? Or what makes an employee give an employer the benefit of the doubt? I think about this question sometimes in the middle of lawsuits. I try to figure out what went wrong in the relationship between the employer and the employee. After all, at some point, both thought that they were in for a long relationship together. Both had big hopes and dreams. Somewhere the relationship went off…

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Employment Law Checklist Project: Prevailing Wages and Fringe Benefits (and the Battle over Travel Plazas)

By Daniel Schwartz on August 29, 2019

Yesterday, a group of workers at some of the travel plazas in Connecticut, along with members of Local 32BJ of SEIU, rallied to protest “wage theft” and call for unionization of the employees who work there, including fast-food workers. The issues the group is raising — at least that have been reported by the press — are two-fold: That the state’s “prevailing wage” law applies to them and, under that law, they ought to…

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Insight on Labor & Employment Developments for Connecticut Businesses

Blog Authors

Employment Law Checklist Project: Thou Shall Not Prohibit Employees From Talking About Their Salary

Paid FMLA – The Many Questions That Lie Ahead

Employment Law Checklist Project: No More Than Six Days of Work in a Week But….

Hearing Set for Thursday on Restaurant Tip Credit Bill, Days after DOL Proposed Guidance

Restaurant Wage and Hour Bill Remains in Limbo: Here’s A Modest Proposal

Sexual Harassment Prevention Training: Free CHRO Online Program Now Available

It’s Alive! Summary Judgment Lives in Employment Discrimination Cases

12 Years Later … Employment Law and Employment Law Blogs Continue to Grow Up

How Small Things Still Matter – A 9/11 Story

Employment Law Checklist Project: Prevailing Wages and Fringe Benefits (and the Battle over Travel Plazas)

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