Bill Text: CT HB05313 | 2014 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning Homemaker Services And Homemaker Companion Agencies.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-03 - Public Hearing 03/11 [HB05313 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2014-HB05313-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 5313
February Session, 2014		LCO No. 1209
		*01209_______LAB*
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)

AN ACT CONCERNING HOMEMAKER SERVICES AND HOMEMAKER COMPANION AGENCIES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2015) For purposes of chapter 567 of the general statutes, a homemaker-companion agency, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, registry, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, or homemaker-home health aide agency, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, shall be deemed the employer of any individual such agency or registry supplies or refers to a consumer to provide (1) homemaker services, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, (2) companion services, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, or (3) homemaker-home health aide services, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, and such agency or registry shall be liable for the payment of unemployment contributions for such individual during the duration of time he or she provides said services to the consumer.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2015) For purposes of chapter 558 of the general statutes, a homemaker-companion agency, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, registry, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, or homemaker-home health aide agency, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, shall be deemed the employer of any individual such agency or registry supplies or refers to a consumer to provide (1) homemaker services, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, (2) companion services, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, or (3) homemaker-home health aide services, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, and such agency or registry shall be responsible for the payment of wages to such individual during the duration of time he or she provides said services to the consumer.

Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2015) (a) As used in this section:

(1) "Homemaker-companion agency" means homemaker-companion agency, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes;

(2) "Registry" means registry, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes;

(3) "Homemaker-home health aide agency" means homemaker-home health aide agency, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes;

(4) "Homemaker services" means homemaker services, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes;

(5) "Companion services" means companion services, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes;

(6) "Homemaker-home health aide services" means homemaker-home health aide services, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes;

(7) "Consumer" means an individual receiving homemaker services, companion services or homemaker-home health aide services from a homemaker-companion agency, registry or homemaker-home health aide agency; and

(8) "Covered provider" means a homemaker-companion agency, registry, or homemaker-home health aide agency providing homemaker services, companion services or homemaker-home health aide services.

(b) For purposes of chapter 568 of the general statutes, any individual a covered provider supplies or refers to a consumer to provide homemaker services, companion services or homemaker-home health aide services shall be deemed an employee of (1) such covered provider, except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, and such covered provider, regardless of the number of hours the individual works, shall be liable for compensation under chapter 568 of the general statutes for such individual during the duration of time he or she provides said services to the consumer, and (2) such consumer solely for the purposes of subsection (a) of section 31-284 of the general statutes, and such consumer shall be deemed to be in compliance with subsection (b) of said section, except that the requirements of subsection (b) of said section 31-284 shall be the responsibility of the covered provider.

(c) The consumer's exemption from liability under subsection (a) of section 31-284 of the general statutes, including any liability for third- party lawsuits commenced pursuant to subsection (a) of section 31-293 of the general statutes, shall be extended to (1) members of the consumer's immediate family or household, and (2) any individual acting as a conservator of the person, as defined in section 45a-644 of the general statutes or acting under other legal authority to make decisions for the consumer regarding their medical or personal care.

Sec. 4. Subdivision (9) of section 31-275 of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2015):

(9) (A) "Employee" means any person who:

(i) Has entered into or works under any contract of service or apprenticeship with an employer, whether the contract contemplated the performance of duties within or without the state;

(ii) Is a sole proprietor or business partner who accepts the provisions of this chapter in accordance with subdivision (10) of this section;

(iii) Is elected to serve as a member of the General Assembly of this state;

(iv) Is a salaried officer or paid member of any police department or fire department;

(v) Is a volunteer police officer, whether the officer is designated as special or auxiliary, upon vote of the legislative body of the town, city or borough in which the officer serves;

(vi) Is an elected or appointed official or agent of any town, city or borough in the state, upon vote of the proper authority of the town, city or borough, including the elected or appointed official or agent, irrespective of the manner in which he or she is appointed or employed. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as affecting any existing rights as to pensions which such persons or their dependents had on July 1, 1927, or as preventing any existing custom of paying the full salary of any such person during disability due to injury arising out of and in the course of his or her employment;

(vii) Is a member of the armed forces of the state while in the performance of military duty, whether paid or unpaid for such military duty, in accordance with the provisions of section 27-17, 27-18 or 27-61; or

(viii) Is elected to serve as a probate judge for a probate district established in section 45a-2.

(B) "Employee" shall not be construed to include:

(i) Any person to whom articles or material are given to be treated in any way on premises not under the control or management of the person who gave them out;

(ii) One whose employment is of a casual nature and who is employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer's trade or business;

(iii) A member of the employer's family dwelling in his house; but, if, in any contract of insurance, the wages or salary of a member of the employer's family dwelling in his house is included in the payroll on which the premium is based, then that person shall, if he sustains an injury arising out of and in the course of his employment, be deemed an employee and compensated in accordance with the provisions of this chapter;

(iv) [Any] Except as provided in section 3 of this act, any person engaged in any type of service in or about a private dwelling provided he is not regularly employed by the owner or occupier over twenty-six hours per week;

(v) An employee of a corporation who is a corporate officer and who elects to be excluded from coverage under this chapter by notice in writing to his employer and to the commissioner; or

(vi) Any person who is not a resident of this state but is injured in this state during the course of his employment, unless such person (I) works for an employer who has a place of employment or a business facility located in this state at which such person spends at least fifty per cent of his employment time, or (II) works for an employer pursuant to an employment contract to be performed primarily in this state.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	January 1, 2015	New section
Sec. 2	January 1, 2015	New section
Sec. 3	January 1, 2015	New section
Sec. 4	January 1, 2015	31-275(9)

Statement of Purpose:

To designate a homemaker-companion agency, registry or homemaker-home health agency as the employer of individuals providing certain services to consumers for the purposes of unemployment compensation, wages and workers' compensation, and to remove liability for such individual's personal injuries arising out of and in the course of employment from the consumer.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]