Highlights
Impacted Employers: All employers.
Effective Date: October 1, 2026
Summary: Connecticut has enacted legislation that expands a prohibition on employment promissory notes.
Next Steps: Review the law in full and determine whether any changes to policies and practices should be made.
The Details
Effective Oct. 1, 2026, House Bill 5003 also expands a prohibition on employment promissory notes to cover all employers.
An employment promissory note is defined as an instrument or agreement that requires an employee to pay the employer if the employee leaves employment before a set amount of time. This includes instruments or agreements stating that the payment is reimbursement for employee training.
Specifically, House Bill 5003 will prohibit all employers from requiring an employee or prospective employee to execute an employment promissory note as a condition of employment. Prior to House Bill 5003, the prohibition applied to only employers with more than 25 employees.
The prohibition doesn’t apply to an agreement:
· Requiring an employee to repay any sums advanced to the employee by the employer;
· Mandating that an employee pay the employer for any property it has sold or leased to the employee;
· Stipulating that educational personnel must comply with any terms or conditions of sabbatical leaves granted; or
· Entered into as part of a program agreed to by the employer and its employees' collective bargaining representative.
Next Steps
Review the law in full and determine whether any changes to policies and practices should be made.