§ 4a-60 — (Formerly Sec. 4-114a). Nondiscrimination and affirmative action provisions in awarding agency, municipal public works and quasi-public agency project contracts.

Connecticut § 4a-60

• Jurisdiction: Connecticut
• Title 4a: Administrative Services
• Ch. 58: Purchases and Printing

Text

(a) Except as provided in section 10a-151i, every contract to which an awarding agency is a party, every quasi-public agency project contract and every municipal public works contract shall contain the following provisions: (1) The contractor agrees and warrants that in the performance of the contract such contractor will not discriminate or permit discrimination against any person or group of persons on the grounds of race, color, religious creed, age, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, status as a veteran, status as a victim of domestic violence, intellectual disability, mental disability or physical disability, including, but not limited to, blindness, unless it is shown by such contractor that such disability prevents performance of the work involved, in any manner prohibited by the laws of the United States or of the state of Connecticut; and the contractor further agrees to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants with job-related qualifications are employed and that employees are treated when employed without regard to their race, color, religious creed, age, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, status as a veteran, status as a victim of domestic violence, intellectual disability, mental disability or physical disability, including, but not limited to, blindness, unless it is shown by such contractor that such disability prevents performance of the work involved; (2) The contractor agrees, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the contractor, to state that it is an “affirmative action-equal opportunity employer” in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities; (3) The contractor agrees to provide each labor union or representative of workers with which such contractor has a collective bargaining agreement or other contract or understanding and each vendor with which such contractor has a contract or understanding, a notice to be provided by the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities advising the labor union or workers' representative of the contractor's commitments under this section, and to post copies of the notice in conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for employment; (4) The contractor agrees to comply with each provision of this section and sections 46a-68e and 46a-68f and with each regulation or relevant order issued by said commission pursuant to sections 46a-56 , 46a-68e , 46a-68f and 46a-86 ; and (5) The contractor agrees to provide the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities with such information requested by the commission, and permit access to pertinent books, records and accounts, concerning the employment practices and procedures of the contractor as relate to the provisions of this section and section 46a-56 . (b) If the contract is a public works contract, municipal public works contract or contract for a quasi-public agency project, the contractor agrees and warrants that he or she will make good faith efforts to employ minority business enterprises as subcontractors and suppliers of materials on such public works or quasi-public agency project. (c) Except as provided in section 10a-151i : (1) Any contractor who has one or more contracts with an awarding agency or who is a party to a municipal public works contract or a contract for a quasi-public agency project shall include a nondiscrimination affirmation provision certifying that the contractor understands the obligations of this section and will maintain a policy for the duration of the contract to assure that the contract will be performed in compliance with the nondiscrimination requirements of subsection (a) of this section. The authorized signatory of the contract shall demonstrate his or her understanding of this obligation by (A) initialing the nondiscrimination affirmation provision in the body of the contract, (B) providing an affirmative response in the required online bid or response to a proposal question which asks if the contractor understands its obligations, or (C) signing the contract. (2) No awarding agency, or in the case of a municipal public works contract, no municipality, or in the case of a quasi-public agency project contract, no entity, shall award a contract to a contractor that has not included the nondiscrimination affirmation provision in the contract and demonstrated its understanding of such provision as required under subdivision (1) of this subsection. (d) For the purposes of this section, “contract” includes any extension or modification of the contract, “contractor” includes any successors or assigns of the contractor, “marital status” means being single, married as recognized by the state of Connecticut, widowed, separated or divorced, and “mental disability” means one or more mental disorders, as defined in the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”, or a record of or regarding a person as having one or more such disorders. For the purposes of this section, “contract” does not include a contract where each contractor is (1) a political subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, a municipality, unless the contract is a municipal public works contract or quasi-public agency project contract, (2) any other state, as defined in section 1-267 , (3) the federal government, (4) a foreign government, or (5) an agency of a subdivision, state or government described in subdivision (1), (2), (3) or (4) of this subsection. (e) For the purposes of this section, “minority business enterprise” means any small contractor or supplier of materials fifty-one per cent or more of the capital stock, if any, or assets of which is owned by a person or persons: (1) Who are active in the daily affairs of the enterprise, (2) who have the power to direct the management and policies of the enterprise, and (3) who are members of a minority, as such term is defined in subsection (a) of section 32-9n ; and “good faith” means that degree of diligence which a reasonable person would exercise in the performance of legal duties and obligations. “Good faith efforts” shall include, but not be limited to, those reasonable initial efforts necessary to comply with statutory or regulatory requirements and additional or substituted efforts when it is determined that such initial efforts will not be sufficient to comply with such requirements. (f) Determination of the contractor's good faith efforts shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following factors: The contractor's employment and subcontracting policies, patterns and practices; affirmative advertising, recruitment and training; technical assistance activities and such other reasonable activities or efforts as the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities may prescribe that are designed to ensure the participation of minority business enterprises in public works projects. (g) The contractor shall develop and maintain adequate documentation, in a manner prescribed by the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, of its good faith efforts. (h) The contractor shall include the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section in every subcontract or purchase order entered into in order to fulfill any obligation of a contract with the state, and in every subcontract entered into in order to fulfill any obligation of a municipal public works contract or contract for a quasi-public agency project, and such provisions shall be binding on a subcontractor, vendor or manufacturer, unless exempted by regulations or orders of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. The contractor shall take such action with respect to any such subcontract or purchase order as the commission may direct as a means of enforcing such provisions, including sanctions for noncompliance in accordance with section 46a-56 ; provided, if such contractor becomes involved in, or is threatened with, litigation with a subcontractor or vendor as a result of such direction by the commission regarding a state contract, the contractor may request the state of Connecticut to enter into any such litigation or negotiation prior thereto to protect the interests of the state and the state may so enter. See Sec. 1-1f for definitions of “blind” and “physically disabled”. See Sec. 1-1g for definition of “intellectual disability”. See Sec. 46a-68b for definition of “public works contract”.

Legislative History

(February, 1965, P.A. 366, S. 1; 1967, P.A. 284; P.A. 73-279, S. 13; P.A. 74-68; P.A. 76-8; P.A. 78-148, S. 8; P.A. 82-358, S. 7, 10; P.A. 83-569, S. 8, 17; P.A. 84-412, S. 3, 8; 84-418; P.A. 88-351, S. 2, 16; P.A. 89-253, S. 2, 7; P.A. 07-142, S. 9; P.A. 09-158, S. 1; P.A. 11-55, S. 3; 11-129, S. 20; 11-229, S. 3; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5, S. 63; P.A. 17-130, S. 7; P.A. 18-75, S. 2; P.A. 21-76, S. 6; P.A. 22-40, S. 5; P.A. 24-108, S. 1.) History: 1967 act included contractor's agreement to supply information to civil rights commission; P.A. 73-279 prohibited discrimination on grounds of physical disability; P.A. 74-68 prohibited discrimination on grounds of sex; P.A. 76-8 replaced “religion” with “religious creed” and prohibited discrimination on grounds of age and marital status; P.A. 78-148 prohibited discrimination on grounds of mental retardation; P.A. 82-358 required that contractors for public works projects make good faith effort to employ minority enterprises as subcontractors and materials suppliers; P.A. 83-569 amended section to refer to Sec. 46a-56; P.A. 84-412 applied provisions to political subdivisions of the state other than a municipality and defined “minority business enterprise”; P.A. 84-418 added Subsecs. (b) to (e), inclusive, concerning determination of good faith and adoption of regulations; P.A. 88-351 revised section, substituting “provisions” for “clause”, adding “ancestry” adding provisions re affirmative action requirements and deleting former Subsec. (e) re regulations and added new Subsec. (e) re applicability of affirmative action requirements to subcontractors, vendors or manufacturers and involvement of state in litigation or negotiation involving contractor, effective April 1, 1989; Sec. 4-114a transferred to Sec. 4a-60 in 1989; P.A. 89-253 amended Subsec. (a) by moving provision re public works contracts to end of subsection, and changed references to Secs. 4a-62, 32-9e, 46a-56 and 46a-68b to 46a-68k to Sec. 46a-68e and 46a-68f, and amended Subsec. (e) by changing references to this section and Secs. 4a-62, 32-9e, 46a-56 and 46a-68b to 46a-68k, inclusive, to Sec. 46a-56; P.A. 07-142 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provisions re contractor documentation supporting nondiscrimination agreement and warranty and defining “contract” and “contractor”, effective June 25, 2007; P.A. 09-158 inserted “mental disability” in Subsec. (a)(1), inserted Subsec. designators (b), (c) and (d) in existing Subsec. (a), amended said Subsec. (c) to insert Subdiv. designators (1) and (2), amended Subsec. (c)(1) to establish representations for contracts of less than $50,000 for each year, amended Subsec. (c)(2) requirements for documentation for contracts of $50,000 or more for any year, amended said Subsec. (d) to define “marital status” and “mental disability” and exclude certain contracts from applicability of section, redesignated existing Subsecs. (b) to (e) as Subsecs. (e) to (h), and made technical changes, effective June 30, 2009; P.A. 11-55 amended Subsec. (a)(1) to prohibit discrimination on grounds of gender identity or expression; pursuant to P.A. 11-129, “mental retardation” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “intellectual disability” in Subsec. (a)(1); P.A. 11-229 amended Subsec. (c)(1) to substitute “Any contractor who has one or more contracts with the state or a political subdivision of the state that is” for “Prior to entering into a contract”, to add reference to electronic representation and to require an updated representation no later than 30 days after any change, amended Subsec. (c)(2) to substitute “Any contractor who has one or more contracts with the state or a political subdivision of the state that is” for “Prior to entering into a contract” and added Subsec. (c)(3) re submission of representation or documentation; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 amended Subsecs. (a) and (c) by replacing references to the state or political subdivision of the state with references to awarding agency, amended Subsecs. (a)(2), (a)(3) and (f) to (h) by changing “commission” to “Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities”, amended Subsec. (a)(4) by adding reference to Sec. 46a-86, amended Subsecs. (a) to (d) and (h) by adding references to municipal public works contracts and quasi-public agency project contracts, amended Subsec. (c) by adding references to commission re provision of representation or documentation, amended Subsec. (d) by deleting former Subdiv. (2) re quasi-public agency and redesignating existing Subdivs. (3) to (6) as Subdivs. (2) to (5), and made technical and conforming changes throughout; P.A. 17-130 amended Subsecs. (a) and (c) to add “Except as provided in section 10a-151i”, effective July 1, 2017; P.A. 18-75 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by adding “status as a veteran” and making a technical change, effective July 1, 2018; P.A. 21-76 amended Subsec. (c) by deleting provision re representation requirements for contracts valued less than $50,000 per year, adding provision re nondiscrimination affirmation provision in contract and adding Subparas. (A) and (B) re signatory demonstrating understanding in Subdiv. (1), deleting former Subdiv. (2) re documentation requirements for contracts valued at $50,000 or more, redesignating existing Subdiv. (3) as Subdiv. (2) and amending same by making technical and conforming changes, and deleting provisions re resubmittal and certification after initial submission of representation or documentation, effective July 1, 2021; P.A. 22-40 amended Subsec. (c)(1) by adding Subpara. (C) re signing the contract and making conforming changes, effective July 1, 2022; P.A. 24-108 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by adding “status as a victim of domestic violence”, effective July 1, 2024.