Connecticut General Statutes 31-58 – Definitions
As used in this part:
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 31-58
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- month: means a calendar month, and the word "year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
(a) “Commissioner” means the Labor Commissioner;
(b) “Fair wage” means a wage fairly and reasonably commensurate with the value of a particular service or class of service rendered, and, in establishing a minimum fair wage for such service or class of service under this part, the commissioner, without being bound by any technical rules of evidence or procedure, (1) may take into account all relevant circumstances affecting the value of the services rendered, including hours and conditions of employment affecting the health, safety and general well-being of the workers, (2) may be guided by such considerations as would guide a court in a suit for the reasonable value of services rendered where services are rendered at the request of an employer without contract as to the amount of the wage to be paid, and (3) may consider the wages, including overtime or premium rates, paid in the state for work of like or comparable character by employers who voluntarily maintain minimum fair wage standards;
(c) “Department” means the Labor Department;
(d) “Employer” means any owner or any person, partnership, corporation, limited liability company or association of persons acting directly as, or on behalf of, or in the interest of an employer in relation to employees, including the state and any political subdivision thereof;
(e) “Employee” means any individual employed or permitted to work by an employer but shall not include any individual employed in camps or resorts which are open no more than six months of the year or in domestic service in or about a private home, except any individual in domestic service employment as defined in the regulations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, or an individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity as defined in the regulations of the Labor Commissioner or an individual employed by the federal government, or any individual engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, scientific, historical, literary or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not, in fact, exist or where the services rendered to such organizations are on a voluntary basis, or any individual employed as a head resident or resident assistant by a college or university, or any individual engaged in baby sitting, or an outside salesman as defined in the regulations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, or any individual employed by a nonprofit theater, provided such theater does not operate for more than seven months in any calendar year, or a member of the armed forces of the state performing military duty, as such terms are defined in section 27-61;
(f) A resort is defined as an establishment under one management whose principal function it is to offer lodging by the day, week, month or season, or part thereof, to vacationers or those in search of recreation;
(g) “Employ” means to employ or suffer to work;
(h) “Wage” means compensation due to an employee by reason of his employment;
(i) “Minimum fair wage” in any industry or occupation in this state means:
(1) A wage of not less than six dollars and seventy cents per hour, and effective January 1, 2003, not less than six dollars and ninety cents per hour, and effective January 1, 2004, not less than seven dollars and ten cents per hour, and effective January 1, 2006, not less than seven dollars and forty cents per hour, and effective January 1, 2007, not less than seven dollars and sixty-five cents per hour, and effective January 1, 2009, not less than eight dollars per hour, and effective January 1, 2010, not less than eight dollars and twenty-five cents per hour, and effective January 1, 2014, not less than eight dollars and seventy cents per hour, and effective January 1, 2015, not less than nine dollars and fifteen cents per hour, and effective January 1, 2016, not less than nine dollars and sixty cents per hour, and effective January 1, 2017, not less than ten dollars and ten cents per hour, and effective October 1, 2019, not less than eleven dollars per hour, and effective September 1, 2020, not less than twelve dollars per hour, and effective August 1, 2021, not less than thirteen dollars per hour, and effective July 1, 2022, not less than fourteen dollars per hour, and effective June 1, 2023, not less than fifteen dollars per hour. On October 15, 2023, and on each October fifteenth thereafter, the Labor Commissioner shall announce the adjustment in the minimum fair wage which shall become the new minimum fair wage and shall be effective on January first immediately following. On January 1, 2024, and not later than each January first thereafter, the minimum fair wage shall be adjusted by the percentage change in the employment cost index, or its successor index, for wages and salaries for all civilian workers, as calculated by the United States Department of Labor, over the twelve-month period ending on June thirtieth of the preceding year, rounded to the nearest whole cent.
(2) In no event shall the minimum fair wage be less than the amount established under subdivision (1) of this subsection, or one-half of one per cent rounded to the nearest whole cent more than the highest federal minimum wage, whichever is greater, except as may otherwise be established in accordance with the provisions of this part.
(3) All wage orders in effect on October 1, 1971, wherein a lower minimum fair wage has been established, are amended to provide for the payment of the minimum fair wage herein established except as hereinafter provided.
(4) Whenever the highest federal minimum wage is increased, the minimum fair wage established under this part shall be increased to the amount of said federal minimum wage plus one-half of one per cent more than said federal rate, rounded to the nearest whole cent, effective on the same date as the increase in the highest federal minimum wage, and shall apply to all wage orders and administrative regulations then in force.
(5) The rates for all persons under the age of eighteen years, except emancipated minors, shall be not less than eighty-five per cent of the minimum fair wage for the first ninety days of such employment, or ten dollars and ten cents per hour, whichever is greater, and shall be equal to the minimum fair wage thereafter, except in institutional training programs specifically exempted by the commissioner.
(6) After two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the state’s real gross domestic product, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce, the Labor Commissioner shall report his or her recommendations, in writing, to the Governor regarding whether any scheduled increases in the minimum fair wage pursuant to this section should be suspended. Upon receiving the report, the Governor may submit his or her recommendations regarding the suspension of such minimum fair wage increases to the General Assembly.