Sen. Kelly, Sen. Formica Statement on Democrat Anti-Jobs Bill

Senate Bill 668 will make it more difficult for restaurants, hospitality industry to create jobs

HARTFORD – Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford) and Senate Republican Leader Pro Tempore Paul Formica (R-East Lyme) released the following statements regarding Senate Bill 668 An Act Concerning a Fair Work Week Schedule:

“This bill is an anti-jobs bill that will make it harder for Connecticut’s already struggling job creators,” said Sen. Kelly. “It adds burdens onto our restaurants and hospitality industry – the very businesses that have been most hurt by the pandemic. This bill will only make jobs harder to come by. Connecticut lost over 120,000 jobs in 2020. We must create an economy where job growth can happen and low and middle income families can make more money. Now is not the time to be making it more difficult for people without work to find a job. Democrats lost their way and this bill shows how tone deaf they are to the plight of working people.”

Sen. Formica said: “Connecticut employers want to grow jobs. We want to nurture our employees because they are the backbone of every business. The intention of this bill may be to support workers, but the reality is it will make it harder for workers to find jobs. It will make it more difficult for businesses to operate in our state. While it only applies to businesses with over 500 employees, that includes all franchises which are owned locally and operate as small businesses. I also fear that this is just the first step to applying these policies to all small businesses.  This is state overreach that will make it harder for job creators to operate on a daily basis. It doesn’t recognize real life issues such as planning for weather or situations outside of an employer’s control that could result in a reduction of business volume. It’s disappointing that the voices of Connecticut’s hospitality and restaurant industry have been shut out of the conversation and the majority party is moving full steam ahead without considering the impact of these changes on the very workers we all want to help.”

The bill includes state-imposed requirements on businesses that limit flexibility in scheduling and require fines to be paid for schedule changes. The requirements include: the posting of all schedules 14 days in advance, increases pay if an employee takes on additional hours to their weekly schedule as posted, requires employees be paid half their rate of pay if an employee has hours reduced or is not called in to work when “on call,” allows employees to decline work shifts less than 11 hours after a previous shift and requires time and a half pay if an employee agrees to such a shift schedule, requires employers to obtain a worker’s desired hours upon hiring and requires the employer to plan around the submitted schedule.