Sec. 31-33. Regulation of industrial home work. - Connecticut Statutes

      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.