On June 30, 2025, we covered some of the labor and employment related bills passed by the General Assembly during its 2025 Regular Session, including changes to the paid sick leave law and to the state’s municipal employees retirement system, in an update that can be viewed here. In this post we provide brief descriptions of some of the other employment-related bills that were passed, including various provisions in the “budget implementer” bill that affect employees and employers. Please note: We will provide you with further/updated information with respect to these and other bills, including the status of any bills vetoed by the Governor, in a subsequent blog post.
CONNECTICUT RETIREMENT SECURITY PROGRAM
Public Act 25-30/S.B. No. 1221 (“An Act Making Changes To The Connecticut Retirement Security Program”), signed by the Governor on June 9, 2025 takes effect on October 1, 2025. It makes several changes to the Connecticut Retirement Security Program by, among other things:
- extending the Program to cover personal care attendants who provide personal care assistance under a state-funded program;
- tying the Program’s default contribution rate to Section 414A of the Internal Revenue Code for new enrollees;
- allowing the Comptroller to provide an applicable retirement saving vehicle for participants who receive a federal “Saver’s Match” contribution; and
- creating a notice requirement and financial penalty for employers who fail to enroll covered employees, with the amount based upon the size of the employer; this would be in lieu of the enforcement mechanism under current law (i.e., allowing the Commissioner of Labor or the Comptroller bring a suit against a non-compliant employer).
FIREFIGHTERS CANCER RELIEF PROGRAM
Public Act 25-4/S.B. No. 1426 (“An Act Making Changes To The Firefighters Cancer Relief Program”), which was signed by the Governor on May 21, 2025 and takes effect on October 1, 2025, makes various revisions to the Firefighters Cancer Relief Program, which provides benefits similar to workers’ compensation benefits to firefighters who have certain cancers, by among other things:
- expanding the listing of cancers covered by the Program to include skin cancer;
- clarifying the eligibility criteria so as to ensure that the five years of qualifying employment time can include any combination of employment in the covered positions;
- clarifying that state-employed firefighters may apply for benefits through the state (with the state then administering the claim and benefits);
- requiring that Program benefits be provided in the same way they would be if the firefighter’s cancer had been caused by an occupational disease (rather than a personal injury) under the workers’ compensation statute; and
- explicitly authorizing workers’ compensation administrative law judges to hear a firefighter’s appeal of a denial of benefits from the Program.
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
H.B. No. 7046 (“An Act Making Revisions To The Second Injury Fund”), which took effect on passage, clarifies that self-insured employers and insured employers can deduct from payments only “actual” third-party recoveries from a tortfeasor with respect to the workers’ compensation Second Injury Fund.
Public Act 25-50/H.B. No. 5605 (“An Act Concerning Minor Revisions To The Workers' Compensation Act”), which took effect on July 1, 2025, removes obsolete language from the Workers' Compensation Act regarding the “Medicare resource-based relative value” for setting practitioner fees.
Public Act No. 25-12/H.B. 6863 (“An Act Concerning Deficiency Appropriations For The Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2025, And Compensation Paid To Injured Employees And The Parents Of A Deceased Employee Under The Workers' Compensation Act”). In response to the Connecticut Supreme Court decision in Gardner v. Dept. of Mental Health & Addiction Services, this Act (which has been signed by the Governor and was effective upon passage) essentially removes an administrative law judge’s discretion to continue to award temporary partial incapacity benefits after maximum medical improvement has been reached. Essentially, the administrative law judge will now be required to instead award permanent partial disability benefits to a claimant who has reached maximum medical improvement.
In addition, the Act provides that when an employee dies in a work-related accident, if there are no persons “wholly dependent in fact,” then benefits will be divided equally among the employee’s parents.
PREVAILING WAGE (AND “OFF-SITE CUSTOM FABRICATION”)
Sections 211 and 212 of a bonding bill (Public Act 25-174) extend the state’s prevailing wage law to cover “off-site custom fabrication” for a covered public works project. “Off-site custom fabrication” is defined as the fabrication of mechanical systems specifically for a public works project at a site other than the project’s location (but within Connecticut). It includes plumbing, heating, cooling, pipefitting, ventilation, and exhaust duct systems, but not components or materials that are stock shelf items or readily available.
THE “BUDGET IMPLEMENTER” (AND PREVAILING WAGE FOR CERTAIN DECD-ASSISTED BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)
In addition to the aforementioned bonding bill, at the last minute, the General Assembly passed the “budget implementer” bill, Public Act 25-168/H.B. 7287 ("An Act Concerning The State Budget For The Biennium Ending June 30, 2027, And Making Appropriations Therefor, And Provisions Related To Revenue And Other Items Implementing The State Budget"). Regardless of its relationship to the actual budget, the “implementer” contains several provisions that have an impact on employees and employers.
Section 160 of the implementer exempts 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations (and 501(c)(6) chambers of commerce) from the general prevailing wage requirements for projects receiving at least $1 million of financial assistance from the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD). This bill also limits the portion of DECD-assisted remediation projects subject to these prevailing wage requirements to only the portion described in the financial assistance contract between the organization and DECD.
Section 161 of the implementer requires contractors that have awarded contracts for DECD or renewable energy prevailing wage projects to adjust wage and benefit contributions each July 1 during the contract to reflect changes in the prevailing wage.
STATE CONTRACTING DISPARITY STUDY AND SMALL BUSINESS AND MBE SPENDING ALLOCATION PROGRAM
The implementer also contains provisions making the following revisions to the law governing non-discrimination contract compliance, the Small and Minority Owned Business Set-Aside Program, and affirmative action plans for covered state contractors:
- It revises the definition of covered “public works contracts” to include contracts with municipalities, quasi-public agencies and the state, and changes the threshold ($150,000 in state funding) that determines whether the contract is subject to these requirements;
- It replaces the current 25% set-aside requirements for small contractors or minority business enterprises (MBEs), with 1) annual spending allocation goals for goods and services, and 2) contract-specific spending allocation goals for public works contracts based on the percentage of available businesses in the relevant industry and geographical area;
- It requires agencies awarding contracts for over $1 million, to withhold 2% of the total contract price per month until the required compliance reports are submitted and approved;
- Interestingly, it makes a state contractor’s failure to timely pay a subcontractor a discriminatory employment practice subject to investigation by the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities;
- It requires general bids for covered state contracts to include a signed statement that the subcontractor has communicated directly with the general bidder about the work to be performed on the specific contract before the general bidder submitted the general bid; and
- It requires the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities to develop and issue a request for proposals for a disparity study.
STATE MARSHALS HEALTH INSURANCE
Section 163 of the implementer allows state marshals who 1) work at least 20 hours per week on average, 2) do not have access to health insurance through their spouse’s employer (which meets criteria regarding its sufficiency) or Connecticut's Municipal Employees Retirement System (CMERS), and 3) are engaged in the service of a) process for indigent parties who have the cost of serving process waived, b) protection orders for victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse or assault, or stalking, or c) civil arrest warrants issued by family support magistrates, to participate in the state employees’ health insurance plan on the same terms as other active state employees.
TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANIES AND THIRD-PARTY DELIVERY COMPANIES
As with prior legislative sessions, there were efforts to enact legislation with respect to the wages and working conditions of “transportation network company” and “third-party delivery company” drivers (e.g., Uber). While efforts to pass these bills failed, the General Assembly has at least agreed to study the issue. The implementer contains a provision requiring the Comptroller to study the compensation of drivers for transportation network companies and third-party delivery companies (with the Comptroller to submit a report to the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee by July 1, 2026). This bill also creates a “working group” to study the compensation and working conditions of such drivers (with the group to submit a report to the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee with its findings and recommendations by January 1, 2027).
RETIRED TEACHERS’ HEALTH INSURANCE
Annual premiums for the basic Teachers’ Retirement Board (TRB) retired teacher health insurance plan are split equally among 1) the State’s General Fund, 2) retired teachers, and 3) the retired teachers’ health insurance premium account (which is funded by active teachers who contribute 1.25% of their salaries to it). Beginning with the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the implementer reduces the state’s share of the cost from one-third to 25%. For retired teachers covered/participating under a local/regional board of education’s health plans (through the “last employing” board), TRB is required to give the last employing board a monthly $200 subsidy to offset the retired teacher’s premiums. The implementer reduces the State General Fund’s responsibility for this subsidy from one-third of the cost of the subsidy to 25%.
MISCELLANEOUS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR PROVISIONS
Public Act 25-75/H.B. No. 7045 (“An Act Concerning The Legislative Commissioners' Recommendations For Minor And Technical Revisions To Statutes Concerning Labor”) as the title suggests, makes technical revisions to statutes concerning labor and takes effect upon passage.
S.B. No. 1312 (“An Act Implementing The Recommendations Of The Labor Department”), among other things: 1) shortens the time in which an employer can protest any unemployment benefits it contends have been improperly charged to its unemployment insurance quarterly statements due to fraud or error from 60 days to 40 days, and 2) makes the Unemployed Workers’ Advocate a full-time position in the state employee classified service (instead of a position that serves at the pleasure of the Commissioner of Labor). The bill also: 1) requires physicians and advanced practice registered nurses to report suspected occupational diseases to the Department of Labor within 48 hours of discovery, and 2) makes a technical correction to the prevailing wage statute. This bill takes effect on October 1, 2025.
UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR STRIKING WORKERS? VETOED!
Public Act 25-64/S.B. No. 8 (“An Act Concerning Protections For Workers And Enhancements To Workers' Rights”). This Act, which would have taken effect on October 1, 2025, would allow individuals to be eligible for unemployment compensation benefits after 14 days of a continuous “labor dispute” (i.e., a strike). However, the Governor has vetoed this Act.
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