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Polauf Law LLCStephen Polauf · Attorney at Law

Wage, Leave & Workplace Compliance

Wage & Hour Disputes & Violations

Wage and Hour Compliance

Connecticut wage payment laws, codified in Chapter 558 of the General Statutes, govern rate notifications, pay frequencies, overtime calculations, and lawful deductions. Connecticut law strictly limits an employer's right to withhold pay, imposing severe statutory penalties for non-compliance.

At hire, employers must provide written notice of pay rates, hours of work, and pay schedules, and must make all wage-related benefit policies available in writing under CGS § 31-71f13. Under CGS § 31-71e14, employers cannot withhold or divert any portion of wages unless required by law or authorized in writing on a form specifically approved by the Connecticut Labor Commissioner. When wages are wrongfully withheld, CGS § 31-7215 authorizes civil actions to recover twice the amount of unpaid wages, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees, unless the employer demonstrates a good-faith belief that its pay practices complied with the law.

Double Damages: CGS § 31-72

When wages are wrongfully withheld or reduced, CGS § 31-72 permits employees to recover twice the full amount of wages due, plus costs and attorney's fees, unless the employer proves a good-faith belief that its pay practices complied with the law.

Overtime: Federal and Connecticut Standards

Overtime is governed by two separate bodies of law that both reach most Connecticut employers. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, a covered employee must receive one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for hours worked beyond forty in a workweek.1 The Act exempts employees who work in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, along with outside sales and certain computer employees.2 Exempt status depends on two independent tests: the employee's actual job duties and a salary-basis test set by federal regulation.3 As of 2026, after the Department of Labor's 2024 rule raising the figure was vacated in litigation and then formally rescinded, the standard salary level returned to $684 per week, or $35,568 annually, and the highly compensated employee threshold returned to $107,432.4 A salaried title and a fixed salary are not sufficient on their own; an employee who fails either the duties test or the salary test is entitled to overtime.

Connecticut imposes its own overtime requirement that operates independently of federal law. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-76c requires one and one-half times the regular rate for hours worked over forty in a workweek,5 and § 31-76b defines the regular rate that anchors the calculation.6 Connecticut recognizes its own executive, administrative, professional, and outside-salesperson exemptions, which are defined by the Labor Commissioner's regulations rather than by direct reference to the federal salary figure.7 Because the state exemptions are set by Connecticut regulation, an employer must confirm classification under state law in addition to federal law, and several industries remain subject to separate Connecticut wage orders.

When both laws reach the same employee, the employer must comply with whichever standard gives the employee greater protection. Classification turns on the work the employee actually performs, and the Second Circuit resolves exemption disputes on that factual record rather than on the employer's label.8 A misclassification carries concrete exposure: unpaid back overtime, liquidated damages equal to the unpaid wages plus attorney's fees under federal law,9 and Connecticut's own double-damages and fee provisions under § 31-72. Individual owners and managers who control pay practices can be held personally liable as employers under the FLSA.10

For employers, I review exemption classifications against the federal and Connecticut tests, audit salary-basis and regular-rate calculations, and structure corrective reclassification before a Department of Labor complaint or a lawsuit forces the issue. For employees, I assess whether a salaried or nominally managerial position was misclassified, calculate the unpaid overtime at stake, and pursue it through the Department of Labor or in court. In either posture the analysis starts from the same facts: the work the employee actually performed and the way the regular rate was calculated.

For Employers

Wage compliance requires alignment between written policies, timekeeping systems, and actual payroll practices. Connecticut law mandates written notice of rates, hours, and pay schedules at hire under CGS § 31-71f. I advise employers on exemption audits, regular-rate calculations, and drafting compliant overtime and wage payment policies.

Under CGS § 31-71e, deductions beyond mandatory statutory withholdings require employee authorization on forms pre-approved by the Labor Commissioner. Recoupment of wage advances, equipment costs, or unearned frontloaded paid sick leave at separation cannot be accomplished through generic payroll authorizations. I prepare transaction-specific wage deduction consent forms and secure formal approval from the Connecticut Department of Labor.

When wage disputes arise, I assess potential exposure under CGS § 31-72 double-damages standards, audit underlying payroll records, and represent businesses in CT DOL Wage and Workplace Standards investigations and Superior Court litigation.

Wage and Hour Litigation and Expert Opinions

I represent clients in wage and hour litigation in Connecticut Superior Court and federal court. Prior representative matters include defending special defense theories against a Department of Labor motion to strike in Commissioner of Labor v. Grove School, Inc.,11 and prevailing on reconsideration and on appeal before the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Savinova v. Nova Home Care, LLC.12

I provide consulting analysis and expert evaluation on Connecticut and federal wage and hour questions for businesses, employees, and co-counsel.

For Employees

Connecticut law prohibits unauthorized paycheck deductions and failure to pay earned wages when due. Under CGS § 31-71e16, wage deductions made without an approved commissioner form are unlawful. Wrongful withholding of wages, overtime, commissions, or earned bonuses authorizes recovery of double damages and attorney's fees under CGS § 31-7217.

I represent employees in identifying disputed pay categories, calculating unpaid overtime, filing formal complaints with the Connecticut Department of Labor, and prosecuting civil actions in Superior Court.

Authorities Cited

  1. Fair Labor Standards Act § 7(a)(1), 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). ↩
  2. 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1). ↩
  3. 29 C.F.R. pt. 541. ↩
  4. 29 C.F.R. § 541.600; see Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees, 91 Fed. Reg. 27,833 (May 15, 2026) (restoring the 2019 salary levels after the 2024 rule was vacated). ↩
  5. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-76c. ↩
  6. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-76b. ↩
  7. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-76i; see also Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-60 (authorizing the Labor Commissioner's exemption regulations). ↩
  8. Scott v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., 954 F.3d 502 (2d Cir. 2020). ↩
  9. 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). ↩
  10. Irizarry v. Catsimatidis, 722 F.3d 99 (2d Cir. 2013). ↩
  11. Commissioner of Labor v. Grove School, Inc., No. HHD-CV-23-6177012-S (Conn. Super. Ct.). ↩
  12. Savinova v. Nova Home Care, LLC, No. 3:20-cv-01612 (D. Conn.); related proceeding, No. 24-2113 (2d Cir.). ↩
  13. CGS § 31-71f ↩
  14. CGS § 31-71e ↩
  15. CGS § 31-72 ↩
  16. CGS § 31-71e ↩
  17. CGS § 31-72 ↩
Personnel Policies & Employee HandbooksCT DOL Audits & ComplianceWorker Misclassification