Sec. 31-33. Regulation of industrial home work.
Sec. 31-33. Regulation of industrial home work. (a) The following terms, as used
in this section, shall have the meanings hereinafter specified, unless the context indicates
otherwise. (1) "Person" means an individual, a corporation, a limited liability company,
a partnership, an association, a joint stock company or a trust or any other unincorporated
organization, except charitable organizations. (2) "To process" means to manufacture,
finish, repair, prepare, alter, pack, wrap or handle any material and the different forms
of the verb shall be interpreted in accordance with this definition. (3) "Home" means any
dwelling house, tenement house, rooming house, apartment house or other residential
building.
(b) Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall distribute materials, either directly, indirectly or through an employee, agent or independent contractor or any other
third party, to a home for the purpose of having such materials processed and thereafter
returned to such person or someone designated by him for any purpose other than the
personal use of such person or any member of his family.
(c) The Labor Commissioner may issue a certificate permitting a person to distribute
materials to any individual sixteen years of age or more to be processed in his home by
such individual only, upon submission of proof that injury or illness, not of a communicable nature, or old age physically incapacitates him for work in a factory or other regular
place of business or that his services are essential in the home to care for a member of
the household; provided the commissioner may issue such certificates to other individuals for processes not requiring mechanical apparatus other than simple hand tools, when
he finds, after a satisfactory showing of proof, that home work is customary in such
industry or occupation in the state of Connecticut and that the suspension of such home
work would work undue hardship on labor or industry; and provided no certificate permitting home work shall be issued for the processing of materials in any home in which
any member of the household has a communicable disease; and provided the wage rates
paid shall not be lower than the wage rates paid within a factory or other place of business
for similar work.
(d) The commissioner may grant to a reputable employer a certificate permitting
such employer to distribute approved materials to be processed in approved homes by
home workers having permits, upon proof that such processing in the homes is customary
and necessary in such employer's industry, that no harmful or dangerous apparatus or
substances are to be used and that the persons who are to do the processing fulfill the
requirements specified for home workers in subsection (c) of this section. Each such
employer shall pay a fee of twenty-five dollars each year for such certificate of permission. The commissioner may grant a permit to process specified materials in his home
to a person who fulfills the requirements for a home worker specified in subsection (c)
of this section. The commissioner may revoke any employer's certificate or any home
worker's permit, at any time, for cause.
(e) No employer shall be granted a permit to distribute materials of any kind to any
worker or workers to be processed at home unless such employer keeps an accurate
record of the name and address of each such worker, an accurate description of the kind
and amount of materials so distributed, the rates of compensation to be paid for each
kind of processing and the total earnings each week of each worker. Such records shall
be available to the inspectors of the department at any time during business hours.
(f) The commissioner shall have power to seize, for use as evidence, any goods
which are processed in violation of any provision of this section and any materials which
are brought or sent into this state from other states to be processed in Connecticut homes,
provided such goods or materials shall be returned to their owners after being used as
evidence.
(g) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not more
than twenty-five dollars for each day such violation has been committed or imprisoned
not more than thirty days or both, and such violation shall constitute grounds for revoking
an employer's certificate or a home worker's permit.
(1949 Rev., S. 3766; P.A. 95-79, S. 106, 189; P.A. 05-288, S. 135.)
History: P.A. 95-79 amended Subsec. (a) to redefine "person" to include a limited liability company, effective May
31, 1995; P.A. 05-288 made technical changes in Subsec. (d), effective July 13, 2005.