Sep 27, 2016

New insurance-related legislation to take effect Oct. 1

The Connecticut Legislature recently enacted several insurance-related laws that will go into effect Oct. 1, 2016. Below are highlights of these laws:

Payroll cards. Public Act 16-125 will allow employers to pay wages using payroll cards. A payroll card is defined as a stored-value card or other device used by an employee to access wages from a payroll card account. It is redeemable, at the employee's election, at multiple unaffiliated merchants or service providers, bank branches or automated teller machines. The payment of wages, salary or other compensation by means of a payroll card is voluntary. Employees also must be given the option to receive wages by direct deposit or negotiable check.

Concrete foundations. Public Act 16-45 requires documentation of the name of the individual or entity that poured a concrete foundation for a new residential or commercial building installed on or after Oct. 1, 2016, before a certificate of occupancy can be issued. Copies of this documentation must be maintained in the records of the office of the building official for no fewer than 50 years. Effective from passage and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after Oct. 1, 2016, any owner of a residential building who has obtained a written evaluation from a professional, licensed engineer indicating that their foundation was made with defective concrete may provide a copy to the assessor and request a reassessment. Not later than 90 days following the receipt of that copy, the assessor will inspect the building and adjust its assessment to reflect its current value. Any document provided to an executive branch agency relating to claims of faulty or failing concrete foundations in residential buildings by the owners of those buildings, as well as any documents prepared by the executive-branch agency relating to such documentation are exempt from any freedom of information requests for seven years after the receipt of the documentation or seven years after the effective date of the act, whichever is later. This also applies to any documentation provided or obtained prior to the effective date of the act.

Workers' compensation insurance. Public Act 16-73 repeals an earlier subsection of a general statute regarding workers' compensation insurance and sole proprietors. It replaces it with a new subsection that enables certain sole proprietors who do not carry workers' compensation insurance to perform on public works projects.

For more information on other issues PIACT tracked for association members, see QS06006—PIACT’s legislative wrap-up. PIACT will continue to advocate for our association members as we move into the 2017 legislative session.