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Who We Are

CBIA is the state’s leading voice for business
Represent the interests of thousands of businesses across the state
95% of CBIA member companies have 100 or fewer employees
Chris DiPentima, President & CEO

Represented industries include:

Manufacturing
Service
Construction
Finance
Insurance
Real Estate

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Workforce Development

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Current Programs: Manufacturing

The Manufacturing Innovation Fund, which recently received $20 million in new funding from the legislature, has proven to be a major asset for businesses across the state.

The fund includes initiatives such as:

Voucher program providing companies with capital to further develop equipment and expertise needed to grow
Incumbent worker training fund offering funds for workforce training
Apprenticeship program combining a mix of classroom instruction and job training in the state’s manufacturing industry
Internship program offering internships at an early stage for college students in order to retain them and provide work-based learning opportunities

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Current Programs: Regional Sector Partners

Regional Workforce Boards

Capital Workforce Partners (North Central Region): 1 Union Place, Hartford 06103 | Alex Johnson, Acting President & CEO (860.522.1111; 860.722.2486)
Workforce Alliance (South Central Region): 560 Ella T. Grasso Blvd., New Haven 06519 | William Villano, President & CEO (203.624.1493; 203.562.1106)
Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board: 108 New Park Ave., Franklin 06254 | Mark Hill, President & CEO (860.859.4100; 860.859.4111)
The WorkPlace, Inc. (Southwest Region): 350 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport 06604 | Joseph Carbone, President & CEO (203.610.8500; 203.335.9703)
Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board, Inc.: 249 Thomaston Ave., Waterbury 06702 | Catherine Awwad, Executive Director (203.574.6971; 203.573.8951)

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Office of Workforce Strategy

Chief Workforce Officer: Kelli-Marie Vallieres
Workforce Development Specialist: Laura Baker
Chief of Staff: Niall Dammando
OWS Initiatives:

Career Pathways: Technical assistance to districts and schools seeking to develop new career-focused courses
Work Based Learning: Support to districts and schools in fostering local employer partnerships to develop internship, pre-apprenticeship, job shadow, or mentorship opportunities for middle and high school students
Dual Credit/Dual Enrollment: Strategic support to districts and schools interested in developing new opportunities for high school students to earn college credit in a professional area of interest while working towards high school graduation requirements
Digital Literacy Professional Development: Assistance to districts and schools in forming partnerships with leaders in the technology and tech education sectors who can offer high quality digital literacy training to teachers.

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Additional OWS Partnerships

A partnership with Google to provide Google Certificates free of charge for community colleges and technical high schools across the state
Partnership with Amazon
A collaboration with GEAR UP, which provides “life skills, professional skills, support necessary” for people entering training programs
Work with hospital systems across the state to build a work pipeline for healthcare workers
One stop shop online portal for job seekers

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Health Insurance Policy

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Employer Vaccine Incentives

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Employer Incentives

Vaccine Administered by Employer

ADA: the value of the incentive (both rewards and penalties) may not be so substantial as to be coercive
GINA: as long as the employer does not acquire genetic information while administering the vaccine, they may offer incentives to employees for getting vaccinated

Vaccine Administered by Health Care Provider

ADA: no incentive limits to encourage employees to voluntarily receive COVID-19 vaccination
GINA: no incentive limits

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Health Insurance Incentives

New Federal Guidance

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Delta Airlines- Unvax Surcharge

Aug. 25: imposed $200/month surcharge on unvaccinated employees
One of the first big U.S. employers to do so
Unvaxxed employees also faced indoor masking and weekly COVID-19 tests
Average hospital stay: $50k

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Federal Guidance

Oct. 4, 2021: DoL, Treasury & HHS jointly issued a set of FAQs governing employers’ ability to provide discounts or surcharges on employees’ group health insurance, based on participants’ COVID-19 vaccination status
Generally: permit employers to impose a surcharge on unvaccinated employees or to provide a discount to vaccinated employees, in an amount up to 30% of the total cost of the employee-only coverage

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FAQs: Cont.

Discount/surcharge = “activity-only” wellness program
Q/A-3 confirms that requiring an employee to be vaccinated for COVID-19 to receive the benefit of lower premiums does require the employee to perform or complete an activity related to a health factor and thus must satisfy the existing five criteria for activity-based wellness arrangements under HIPAA

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The program must be reasonably designed to promote health or prevent disease

FAQ suggests helping schedule vaccination appointments and establishing a toll-free hotline to answer questions

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(2) The program must provide a reasonable alternative standard to qualify for the discount on health insurance premiums

FAQ suggests providing the discount if the individual can verify it would be unreasonably burdensome or medically inadvisable to be vaccinated for COVID-19 due to an existing medical condition

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(3) The program must provide notice of the availability of a reasonable alternative standard

FAQ suggests mandating compliance with the CDC’s mask guidelines for any employee who cannot otherwise be vaccinated because of an existing medical condition

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(4) The incentive award (or penalty) cannot be more than 30% of the total cost of employee-only coverage when combined with all other wellness program awards or penalties

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(5) All employees must be offered the opportunity to qualify for the incentive at least once per year

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Example

A group health plan offers a 25 percent premium discount of the cost of employee-only coverage to all participants who receive a COVID-19 vaccination in accordance with the recommendations of ACIP (and does not offer any other reward under other health-contingent wellness programs with respect to the plan). To help facilitate participants receiving the vaccination, the plan also maintains a toll-free hotline to answer questions about COVID-19 vaccination and offer assistance to schedule appointments to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The plan provides the same premium discount to individuals for whom it is unreasonably difficult due to a medical condition or medically inadvisable to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination if the individual attests to complying with the CDC’s mask guidelines for unvaccinated individuals. The plan also provides notice of the availability of this alternative to all participants. Participants may qualify annually for this premium discount.

Conclusion: The vaccine incentive program meets the criteria to be an activity-only health-contingent wellness program. The reward the plan provides in connection with the vaccine incentive program does not exceed 30 percent of the total cost of employee-only coverage and the opportunity to qualify is offered annually. The plan provides a reasonable alternative standard to qualify for the reward, in this case the opportunity to attest to complying with the CDC’s mask guidelines, to individuals for whom it is unreasonably difficult due to a medical condition or medically inadvisable to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination, and the plan provides notice of the availability of the reasonable alternative standard. This program is also reasonably designed to promote health and prevent disease (and is not a subterfuge for discriminating based on a health factor), as the program rewards individuals who obtain a COVID-19 vaccination, while the reasonable alternative standard is not overly burdensome, and is also designed to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Further, the plan’s maintenance of a toll-free hotline to provide information about the COVID-19 vaccine and assistance with meeting the underlying standard (in this case, receiving a COVID-19 vaccination or fulfilling the reasonable alternative) are additional facts and circumstances demonstrating that the program is reasonably designed to promote health or prevent disease because they help ensure that the program is not overly burdensome.

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Further Guidance

The premium discount/surcharge amount must be included in affordability calculations under the ACA
Employers may not exclude employees from eligibility or coverage under a group health plan solely because of an employee’s COVID-19 vaccination status
Employers must provide 100 percent coverage of all COVID vaccination costs, including boosters

The premium discount/surcharge amount must be included in affordability calculations under the Affordable Care Act. As we have discussed previously, Q/A-5 confirms that wellness incentives for COVID-19 vaccinations are considered the same as any other non-tobacco incentive. To determine whether the employee’s monthly premium cost is “affordable” under Code Section 4980H(b), employers with over 50 full-time employees or full-time equivalents must disregard any premium discount amounts and include any vaccine surcharge amounts in the total cost of employee-only coverage.

Employers may not exclude employees from eligibility or coverage under a group health plan solely because of an employee’s COVID-19 vaccination status. As an alternative to using a vaccine surcharge to incentivize employees, several employers have considered providing an exclusion from coverage under a group health plan for COVID-related claims for nonvaccinated employees. Q/A-4 clarifies that such exclusionary practices would violate HIPAA nondiscrimination mandates and thus are not permissible.

Employers must provide 100 percent coverage of all COVID vaccination costs, including boosters. The FAQ confirms that employers must provide coverage under their non-grandfathered group health plan for 100 percent of the cost of all vaccine shots (in compliance with Section 3203 of the CARES Act,) and Q/A-1 confirms this coverage mandate also includes the cost of any booster doses authorized or approved by the Food and Drug Administration or through an Emergency Use Authorization through the Centers for Disease Control. But in a welcomed clarification, Q/A-1 and 2 indicate that because of confusion from prior guidance, the mandate for 100 percent coverage under a group health plan will not be enforced for periods before the release of this FAQ, October 4, 2021.

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Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML)

2019: PMFL created to provide partial wage replacement benefits to employees taking leave for reasons allowed under the state’s FMLA or family violence leave law
2022: program will provide up to 12 weeks of PFML benefits over a 12-month period, plus 2 additional weeks for a serious health conditions that results in incapacitation during pregnancy
Administered by the CT Paid Leave Authority

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PFML - Who’s Covered?

All private-sector employees (except those in private elementary or secondary schools)
Some public-sector employees
Sole proprietors and the self-employed can choose to join the program, but they must enroll for at least three years

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PFML - How is it funded?

All employees covered by the program must contribute to it through a payroll deduction starting on January 1, 2021
The annual contribution rate will be set by the authority but it is capped at 0.5% of the employee’s total wages, up to the maximum amount that is subject to Social Security taxes ($142,800 for 2021)

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PFML - Implementation Dates

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PFML - Who is eligible for benefits?

Covered employees are eligible if they have earned at least $2,325 in the highest quarter for the first four of the five most recently completed quarters
Must also be currently employed, have been employed within the last 12 weeks, or be participating sole proprietor or self-employed individual

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PFML - Benefit Eligible Leaves

Parental Bonding	Serious Health Conditions	Donors	Armed Forces	Family Violence
Birth of the employee’s child Placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care	For the serious health condition of the employee or the employee’s family member	To serve as an organ or bone marrow donor	Undergoing treatment for an injury or illness incurred in the line of duty Being deployed to a foreign country	Seek medical care or psychological counseling Obtain services from a VSO Relocate because of family violence Civ/Crim proceeding

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PFML - Weekly Benefit

95% of his/her weekly earnings, up to 40 times the state minimum wage PLUS 60% of the amount of employee’s average weekly earnings that exceeds 40 times the minimum wage
Total benefits cannot exceed 60 times the minimum wage
If the contribution rate is at its maximum (0.5%) but not generating enough to ensure solvency -> reduce benefits

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PFML - Substance Abuse

Substance abuse may be a serious health condition
FMLA leave may only be taken for treatment for substance abuse by a healthcare provider or provider of healthcare services
Absence because of the employee’s use of the substance, rather than for treatment, does not qualify for State FMLA leave

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PFML - Substance Abuse

Treatment for substance abuse does not prevent an employer from taking employment action against an employee

The employer may not take action against the employee b/c they exercised right to take FMLA for treatment
BUT, if the employer has an established, nondiscriminatory policy, employee may be terminated whether or not they take FMLA

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PFML - Substance Abuse & Intermittent Leave

Leave may be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule when medically necessary for planned and/or unanticipated medical treatment of a serious health condition
May include leave of periods from an hour to several weeks

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Contact Information

Wyatt Bosworth

Assistant Counsel

wyatt.bosworth@cbia.com

860.244.1155 | @WyattBosworthCT

Ashley Zane

Government Affairs Associate

ashley.zane@cbia.com

860.244.1169 | @AshleyZane9

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