(a) The Department of Developmental Services shall establish and maintain a registry of former employees who have been terminated or separated from employment as a result of substantiated abuse or neglect. The department shall, for the purposes of maintaining the registry, be capable of responding to inquiries in accordance with subsection (c) of this section as to whether a former employee has been terminated or separated from employment as a result of substantiated abuse or neglect. Such capability may include response by telephone voice mail or other automated response for initial inquiries.

(b) The registry shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) The names, addresses and Social Security numbers of those former employees terminated or separated from employment as a result of substantiated abuse or neglect; (2) the date of termination or separation; (3) the type of abuse or neglect; and (4) the name of any employer or authorized agency requesting information from the registry, the reason for the request and the date of the request.

(c) The department shall make information in the registry available only to: (1) Authorized agencies, for the purpose of protective service determinations; (2) employers who employ employees to provide services to an individual who receives services or funding from the department; (3) the Departments of Children and Families, Mental Health and Addiction Services, and Social Services, for the purpose of determining whether an applicant for employment appears on the registry; or (4) charitable organizations that recruit volunteers to support programs for persons with intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder, upon application to and approval by the commissioner, for purposes of conducting background checks on such volunteers.

(d) The department shall limit responses to requests for identifying information from the registry established under this section to (1) identification of the former employee terminated or separated from employment for substantiated abuse or neglect, and (2) the type of abuse or neglect so substantiated.

(e) Not later than five business days following receipt of written notification by an authorized agency of the substantiation of abuse or neglect by a former employee who has been terminated or separated from employment for such abuse or neglect, an employer shall submit to the department the name of such former employee and such other information as the department may request. Upon receipt of notification of such termination or separation, the department shall conduct a hearing in accordance with sections 4-177 to 4-181a, inclusive, governing contested cases. The department shall not place a former employee’s name on the registry until the department has completed the hearing and the hearing has resulted in a decision to place the former employee’s name on the registry.

(f) The department shall remove a former employee’s name from the registry if an arbitration or a legal proceeding results in a finding that the former employee was unfairly terminated from employment.

(g) No employer shall be liable in any civil action for damages brought by an employee, former employee or an applicant for employment whose name appears on the registry established by this section arising out of the conduct of the employer in (1) making any report in good faith pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, (2) testifying under oath in any administrative or judicial proceeding arising from such report, (3) refusing to hire or to retain any person whose name appears on the registry established under this section, or (4) taking any other action to conform to the requirements of this section. The immunity provided in this subsection shall not apply to gross negligence or to wilful or wanton misconduct.

(June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2, S. 157, 165; P.A. 98-133, S. 2; P.A. 00-37, S. 2, 5; P.A. 07-73, S. 2(a); 07-238, S. 4; P.A. 11-26, S. 1; P.A. 14-165, S. 3; P.A. 17-96, S. 12.)

History: June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2 effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-133 amended Subsec. (c) by changing employers “seeking to employ a person” to employers “who employ individuals”, amended Subsec. (e) requiring employers to submit names five business days following “receipt of written notification by an authorized agency of the substantiation of abuse or neglect by an employee who has been terminated or separated from employment for such abuse or neglect” rather than following “an employee’s termination or separation from employment for abuse or neglect”, deleted requirement that the department make a determination of substantiated abuse or neglect before placing a name on the registry and replaced it with a requirement of a hearing in accordance with sections 4-177 to 4-181a and a decision before placing a name on the registry, added new Subsec. (f) re removal of name from registry and relettered remaining section accordingly; P.A. 00-37 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision re responding to inquiries in accordance with Subsec. (c), by providing that response capability may include response by telephone voice mail or other automated response, and by deleting mandatory automated response requirement, and amended Subsec. (c) by deleting provision re limited information available through an automated response to an initial inquiry, effective May 1, 2000; pursuant to P.A. 07-73 “Department of Mental Retardation” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Department of Developmental Services”, effective October 1, 2007; P.A. 07-238 added Subsec. (c)(3) to make registry information available to Departments of Children and Families and Mental Health and Addiction Services for the purpose of determining whether applicant for employment appears on the registry; P.A. 11-26 added Subsec. (c)(4) making registry information available to charitable organizations which recruit volunteers to support programs for persons with intellectual disability, for purposes of conducting background checks on such volunteers, effective June 3, 2011; P.A. 14-165 amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “a department client” with “an individual who receives services or funding from the department” in Subdiv. (2) and by adding reference to autism spectrum disorder in Subdiv. (4), replaced references to individual and employee with references to former employee throughout and made technical changes; P.A. 17-96 amended Subsec. (c)(3) to add reference to Department of Social Services, effective June 30, 2017.