Ever since the enactment of Public Act 16-67 last summer, school employers and contractors servicing them have faced the challenge of complying with new requirements for background checks for employees who will have direct contact with students. The central aspect of the legislation is a prohibition against offering employment to an applicant for a position […]
Starting January 22, 2017, all employers will be required to use a new I-9 Form, the form used to verify an employee’s eligibility to work in the United States. I-9s must be completed on all new hires who will perform work in the United States. Employers may switch to the new form now or may […]
Effective July 1, 2016, local or regional boards of education, governing councils of state or local charter schools and inter-district magnet school operators (collectively “BOEs”), are going to have to follow new requirements for hiring education personnel. The state legislature recently enacted Public Act 16-67 (“the Act”) in response to a new provision in the […]
The U.S. Department of Labor just issued its final rule, requiring minimum wage and overtime for some employees who are currently “exempt” from these requirements. Employers need to plan ahead for implementation, as the rule change could lead to seismic shifts in some payrolls. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) requires that employees receive […]
Teachers generally enjoy job protection which is much greater than all other public sector employees. Such laws have been much criticized in recent years as a result of the increased focus on student performance. Reports of “rubber rooms” in New York, where incompetent teachers were parked, have been much publicized and much maligned. Some states, […]
While the concept is intuitive, a recent study has confirmed that teacher absenteeism has a direct and measurable impact on student learning. In a report entitled “Roll Call: The Importance of Teacher Attendance” the National Center on Teacher Quality found that teachers miss on average 11 out of 186 days of school; and one in […]
In a case of first impression, the State Board of Labor Relations has ruled that owner/operator bus drivers in Newtown are independent contractors and not employees of the School Board. Newtown Board of Education SBLR Dec. No. 4668 (2013). In an effort to thwart the school district’s efforts to end an 80 year old system of local […]
In what is one of, if not the first decision of its type in Connecticut, an independent hearing officer has ruled that the Groton Board of Education had grounds to terminate Paul Kadri its Superintendent of Schools. As in most districts, Kadri was under contract which provided for grounds for termination similar to those […]
In what will no doubt be viewed as a landmark decision, an interest arbitration panel has issued an award which will allow the New Haven Public Schools to privatize 86 of the 186 positions in its custodial and maintenance union, and in the process save nearly $4 million dollars. Faced with skyrocketing pension and health […]
In a move that seemed to defy logic, the Connecticut Education Association (CEA) on behalf of its local affiliate the Milford Education Association, filed a complaint claiming that a popular software program, specifically designed to make easier the process of completing paperwork following a Planning and Placement Team meeting (PPT) for a special education student, […]
