I'm trying to find out if the CT labor laws have guidelines for minimum operating employement and forced overtime.

My situation is this: the manager of the business I work for was terminated on 2/21/06 without warning. This left myself (the assistant manager), one full time employee, and one part time employee. In order to keep the schedual full I am forced to place both myself and the other full time employee at over 40 hours. I have not had a day off during this time period and was only able to give the other employees days off by covering for them. We have had to work shifts that are over 8 hours and our District Manager has failed to provide the help she has promised and has not recruited anyone in almost four weeks since my manager's termination that she has promised. I need to find out if this is a legal violation.

On a personal matter, the business is undergoing remodelling. I informed my District Managaer in advance that I have Asthma and an allergy to paint fumes. I was promised coverage for this time period but never recieved it. My asthma was triggered by the paint and dust and I had to go to the ER to get a breathing treatment. My question is, is it possible the company would be required to reimburse me for my hospital bill?

Thank you for your time

It's possible that your visit to the ER would be deemed reimburseable under Worker's Comp, but I admit that is not my area of expertise. Someone else here will know, though.

Regarding your work hours, Connecticut law appears to not have any "one day's rest in seven" laws. And there is also nothing prohibiting the employer from working the employees more than 8 hours in a day. So, from what I could find, there are no violations of law here, although I agree it's not an optimum situation.

I have found, however, that when the going gets tough like this, the employees who pitch in and stick it out are the ones who get rewarded in the end.