Articles Discussing Wage & Hour Claims In Connecticut.

Finding the Connecticut Department of Labor regulations on tip credit are “not incompatible” with the state tip credit law, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that an employer’s pizza delivery drivers are not subject to a tip credit. Amaral Brothers, Inc. v. Department of Labor, No. SC 19622 (Apr. 4, 2017).

While employers frequently attempt to restrict discussion among employees regarding pay, recent legislation in Connecticut prohibits employers from disciplining or otherwise retaliating against employees who discuss wage information.

On June 23, 2015, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed into law a new statute that imposes double damages on employers who fail to pay an employee minimum wage or overtime. With one exception, the new law requires a court to award double damages plus court costs and attorney’s fees if it finds that an employer has (1) failed to pay an employee’s wages, accrued fringe benefits, or arbitration award or (2) failed to meet the law’s requirements for an employee’s minimum wage or overtime rates.

Connecticut recently became the first state in the country to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by the year 2017, the same rate that President Barack Obama has been seeking for the federal minimum wage. Connecticut lawmakers passed the historic bill on March 26, 2014, and it was signed into law by Governor Dannel Malloy the following day. Connecticut had just voted to increase the minimum wage last year, to its current level of $8.70 per hour.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy has signed legislation to increase Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage incrementally to $10.10 over the next three years. The new maximum rate will become effective January 1, 2017.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy has signed legislation to increase Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage over two years by $.75 to $9.00 by January 1, 2015.

Connecticut state law, like the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), requires employers to pay non-exempt employees one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for any hours worked in a workweek in excess of 40. A Connecticut Superior Court has held that the fluctuating workweek method (“FWW”) of overtime calculation complies with Connecticut state wage law. See Roach v. Moran Foods, No. HHD-CV-11-6023386-S (Conn. Super. Mar. 16, 2012). The court reasoned that because the Connecticut Legislature identified in the wage law (C.G.S.A. § 31-76(b)(1)) a specific category of employees (i.e., delivery drivers) to which the FWW method may not apply, the intent of the Legislature was to allow the FWW to apply to other employees.