Connecticut HB 5496: AN ACT CONCERNING THE STATE BUDGET AND THE MEDICAID LINE ITEM.

Bill Text

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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5496
February Session, 2026

AN ACT CONCERNING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PROTECTIONS
FOR UTILITY AND PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) For purposes of this 1
section and section 2 of this act: 2
(1) "Employer" means a (A) municipal utility furnishing electric, gas 3
or water, (B) regional water authority, (C) regional sewer district, (D) 4
public service company, or (E) municipal public works department; 5
(2) "Public service company" has the same meaning as provided in 6
section 16-1 of the general statutes; and 7
(3) "Workplace violence" means any act or threat of physical violence, 8
harassment, intimidation or other threatening disruptive behavior that 9
occurs at a work site. "Workplace violence" does not include any such 10
act or threat that occurs at the site of an employer. 11
(b) On or before January 1, 2027, each employer shall undertake a risk 12
assessment of the factors that may place employees who provide 13
services directly to customers at risk of being a victim of workplace 14
violence by virtue of their role as an employee of such employer, 15
including, but not limited to, (1) working directly with customers in 16
their domicile, (2) working late nights or early morning hours, (3) 17

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exchanging money with customers, (4) working alone or in small 18
numbers, (5) customers with a previous history of violence toward 19
employees, and (6) the crime rate for the municipality in which the 20
employee will provide services, as determined by the most recent 21
annual report concerning crime in the state issued by the Department of 22
Emergency Services and Public Protection pursuant to section 29-1c of 23
the general statutes. 24
(c) On or before July 1, 2027, each employer shall develop and 25
implement a workplace violence prevention and response training 26
program for employees who provide services directly to customers. 27
Such training program shall include, but need not be limited to, training 28
on (1) the risk factors identified pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, 29
(2) methods the employer will use to prevent incidents of workplace 30
violence, including, but not limited to, (A) utilizing methods to 31
minimize the amount of cash on an employee's person during a work 32
shift, and (B) establishing and implementing reporting systems for 33
incidents of violent or aggressive behavior, (3) conflict resolution and 34
nonviolent self-defense responses, and (4) measures employees can take 35
to protect themselves from such risks. Such training program shall be 36
provided to an employee upon hire and annually thereafter. 37
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) Each employer shall maintain 38
records that detail each incidence of workplace violence and include the 39
specific location in which such incident occurred. An employer shall, 40
not later than January first of each year, submit a report to the Labor 41
Department regarding the number of workplace violence incidents that 42
occurred during the preceding calendar year and the specific location 43
where such incidents occurred. 44
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2026 New section

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LAB Joint Favorable Subst.