New Obligations for Connecticut Health Care Employers: Full Pay for Assaulted Workers and Retaliation Training in Assisted Living, by Andrea Strain, Esq.,11-3-2026

*This is the fifth in a series of articles that will address Connecticut employer’s obligations related to recently enacted laws. 

As health care employers set staffing, payroll and training plans for the new year, two Connecticut laws that took effect October 1, 2026 belong on the list. Both bear directly on health care employers. Public Act 26-12, Section 1, requires employers to pay health care workers injured in an assault on the job 100 percent of their average weekly earnings, without the usual cap, and to continue their full salary while they are out. Public Act 26-44 requires assisted living services agencies that serve managed residential communities to give every employee annual training on residents’ fear of retaliation.

Full compensation for health care workers injured in an assault

Section 1 of Public Act 26-12 adds a new subsection (e) to the workers’ compensation statute, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-307. Where a compensable injury results in total or partial incapacity because of a “physical or negligent assault” on a health care provider or other employee of a health care facility or institution, acting within the scope of employment, the injured worker must be paid:

• weekly compensation equal to 100 percent of average weekly earnings as of the date of injury, rather than the usual 75 percent of after-tax earnings, and without the statutory maximum weekly benefit;
• reasonable expenses for medical or other services needed as a result of the assault; and
• lost wages for absences to appear in court in connection with the assault.

The employer must also continue the worker’s full salary during an absence caused by the assault or by a related court appearance. The employer may deduct the workers’ compensation award from those salary payments, and the absence may not be charged against sick leave, vacation or personal days.

The definition of “health care facility or institution” is broad. It includes hospitals, nursing homes, rest homes, home health care and home health aide agencies, emergency medical services organizations, assisted living services agencies, outpatient clinics and surgical facilities, community health centers, urgent care facilities, physician-owned medical offices, and dental offices and infirmaries operated by educational institutions for their students, faculty and employees. State-operated facilities are excluded, except UConn Health. A “health care provider” includes anyone employed by or volunteering for such a facility who is involved in direct patient care, or who has direct contact with patients or their families while collecting or processing patient information or escorting or directing them on the premises. The subsection also covers any “other employee” of the facility.

The act does not define “physical or negligent assault,” and employers should expect its scope to be clarified over time by the courts or the legislature.

Annual fear of retaliation training in assisted living

Public Act 26-44 adds subsection (h) to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-564. Every licensed assisted living services agency that provides assisted living services in a managed residential community must ensure that all agency employees receive annual in-service training on residents’ fear of retaliation from employees or others. The training must cover, at a minimum:

• residents’ rights to file complaints and voice grievances;
• examples of what might constitute, or be perceived as, employee retaliation against residents; and
• methods of preventing retaliation and easing residents’ fear of it.

The trainer must be familiar with the needs of the resident population at that community but need not be a qualified social worker or social worker consultant.

What health care employers should do now

• Alert workers’ compensation carriers and third-party administrators to the new benefit level for assault-related claims.
• Update payroll and leave procedures so that employees absent because of a workplace assault, or for a related court appearance, receive full salary, offset by any workers’ compensation award, without a charge to sick, vacation or personal leave.
• Make sure incident reports for patient or visitor assaults on staff capture the facts needed to evaluate coverage under the new subsection.
• Managed residential communities that arrange assisted living services through a separate licensed agency should confirm that the agency is providing the training to its employees.
• Assisted living services agencies serving managed residential communities should schedule fear of retaliation training for all employees, select a qualified trainer, and keep attendance records to document annual completion.
• Review resident grievance and anti-retaliation policies so that they align with the training content.

To read a preview of the laws in a previous roundup, click here.

Author: Andrea Strain, Westchester and Connecticut Of Counsel