Labor and Public Employees Committee hears broad slate of worker-protection bills; survivors press limits on nondisclosure agreements

The Connecticut General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee held a public hearing March 3 on a wide package of worker‑protection bills, hearing federal‑compliance and workforce governance testimony from agency officials, survivors’ accounts and union pleas for stronger safeguards across health care, building services and schools.

Kelly Marie Velez Velaris, chief workforce officer and vice chair of the Governor’s Workforce Council, told the committee the state’s workforce board is currently out of compliance with federal WIOA requirements and said raised Bill 346 would add business members, include a vocational rehabilitation representative and cap membership at 61 to restore a business majority and allow Connecticut’s WIOA plan to proceed. “Without this approval, federal WIOA funds are at risk,” Velez Velaris said, citing annual WIOA funding of roughly $30–$34 million.

Survivors and advocates urged limits on nondisclosure agreements. Janelle Grant, who described herself as a survivor of workplace assault, testified — through counsel — in support of SB 355, which would void NDA provisions that bar employees from disclosing conduct they reasonably believe to be discrimination, harassment, retaliation or assault. Grant described being prevented from speaking about alleged misconduct and urged the committee to remove procedural barriers that require some claims to be exhausted at the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) before court…