Connecticut General Statutes 19a-497 – Filing of strike contingency plan. Summary order. Civil penalty: Notification and hearing requirement. Regulations. Collective bargaining implications
(a) Each institution shall, upon receipt of a notice of intention to strike by a labor organization representing the employees of such institution, in accordance with the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 USC 158, file a strike contingency plan with the commissioner not later than five days before the date indicated for the strike. Such strike contingency plan shall include the institution’s staffing plan for at least the first three days of such strike. The strike contingency plan shall include, but need not be limited to, the names and titles of the individuals who will be providing services at the institution. An institution that is a residential facility for persons with intellectual disability licensed pursuant to § 17a-227 and certified to participate in the Title XIX Medicaid program as an intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities shall submit a strike contingency plan that contains the same information as required of nursing homes.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 19a-497
- Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Public Health or the commissioner's designee. See Connecticut General Statutes 19a-490
- Institution: means a hospital, short-term hospital special hospice, hospice inpatient facility, residential care home, nursing home facility, home health care agency, home health aide agency, behavioral health facility, assisted living services agency, substance abuse treatment facility, outpatient surgical facility, outpatient clinic, clinical laboratory, an infirmary operated by an educational institution for the care of students enrolled in, and faculty and employees of, such institution. See Connecticut General Statutes 19a-490
- intellectual disability: means a significant limitation in intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior that originated during the developmental period before eighteen years of age. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1g
- nursing home facility: means (1) any chronic and convalescent nursing home or any rest home with nursing supervision that provides nursing supervision under a medical director twenty-four hours per day, or (2) any chronic and convalescent nursing home that provides skilled nursing care under medical supervision and direction to carry out nonsurgical treatment and dietary procedures for chronic diseases, convalescent stages, acute diseases or injuries. See Connecticut General Statutes 19a-490
(b) The commissioner may issue a summary order to any nursing home facility, as defined in § 19a-521, or any residential care home, as defined in § 19a-521, that fails to file a strike contingency plan that complies with the provisions of this section and the regulations adopted by the commissioner pursuant to this section within the specified time period. Such order shall require the nursing home facility or residential care home to immediately file a strike contingency plan that complies with the provisions of this section and the regulations adopted by the commissioner pursuant to this section.
(c) Any nursing home facility or residential care home that is in noncompliance with this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars for each day of noncompliance.
(d) (1) If the commissioner determines that a nursing home facility or residential care home is in noncompliance with this section or the regulations adopted pursuant to this section, for which a civil penalty is authorized by subsection (c) of this section, the commissioner may send to an authorized officer or agent of the nursing home facility or residential care home, by certified mail, return receipt requested, or personally serve upon such officer or agent, a notice that includes: (A) A reference to this section or the section or sections of the regulations involved; (B) a short and plain statement of the matters asserted or charged; (C) a statement of the maximum civil penalty that may be imposed for such noncompliance; and (D) a statement of the party’s right to request a hearing to contest the imposition of the civil penalty.
(2) A nursing home facility or residential care home may make written application for a hearing to contest the imposition of a civil penalty pursuant to this section not later than twenty days after the date such notice is mailed or served. All hearings under this section shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54. If a nursing home facility or residential care home fails to request a hearing or fails to appear at the hearing or if, after the hearing, the commissioner finds that the nursing home facility or residential care home is in noncompliance, the commissioner may, in the commissioner’s discretion, order that a civil penalty be imposed that is not greater than the penalty stated in the notice. The commissioner shall send a copy of any order issued pursuant to this subsection by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the nursing home facility or residential care home named in such order.
(e) The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54: (1) Establishing requirements for a strike contingency plan, which shall include, but not be limited to, a requirement that the plan contain documentation that the institution has arranged for adequate staffing and security, food, pharmaceuticals and other essential supplies and services necessary to meet the needs of the patient population served by the institution in the event of a strike; and (2) for purposes of the imposition of a civil penalty upon a nursing home facility or residential care home pursuant to subsections (c) and (d) of this section.
(f) Such plan shall be deemed a statement of strategy or negotiation with respect to collective bargaining for the purpose of subdivision (9) of subsection (b) of § 1-210.