Summary: Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont recently signed amendment legislation (H.B. 5005) expanding the availability and requirements of the state’s paid sick leave law (CT PSL). These changes begin to take effect on January 1, 2025.
Read on for more details outlining the upcoming CT PSL changes and next steps for employers.
Connecticut Paid Sick Leave Background
The Connecticut paid sick leave law (CT PSL) became effective in 2012 and was the first statewide paid sick leave in the country, requiring certain employers to provide employees with 40 hours of paid sick time per year. The current CT PSL law covers private sector employers with at least 50 employees, except certain manufacturers and certain non-profits.
Currently, CT PSL covers only those employees working in Connecticut who are classified as “service workers.” Service workers, as defined under the current CT PSL law, are identified by occupation code numbers and titles used by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, and generally cover home health aides, nurses, security guards, janitors, and cashiers, amongst other designated job titles.
Employers with existing paid leave policies that meet or exceed the CT PSL requirements under the same terms and conditions are not required to provide additional paid time off.
Connecticut Paid Sick Leave Changes
Below are the highlights of the recent amendment legislation expanding CT PSL, captured in a table comparing the current CT PSL requirements with the upcoming changes:
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CT PSL Requirement
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Current CT PLS Law
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Upcoming CT PSL Law Changes Effective January 1, 2025 (unless noted otherwise)
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Covered Employers
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Employers with 50 or more employees working in the state.
The employee headcount threshold is determined annually using the company’s payroll for the week of October 1.
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- Starting January 1, 2025: all employers with 25 or more employees
- Starting January 1, 2026: all employers with 11 or more employees
- Starting January 1, 2027: all employers with one or more employees
The employee headcount threshold is determined annually using the company’s payroll for the week of January 1.
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Exempt Employers
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Certain manufacturing employers and nationally chartered nonprofits.
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Employers who participate in a multiemployer health plan that is maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between a construction-related union and an employer.
Self-employed individuals.
Note that the expanded law removes the exemption for certain manufacturing employers and nationally chartered nonprofits.
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Eligible Employees
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All full- and part-time “service workers.”
Service workers generally include retail and service job workers who are either paid on an hourly basis or are non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
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All full-time and part-time workers in the state, regardless of job type and FLSA status, except seasonal employees.[1]
Additionally, newly eligible FLSA exempt employees will be presumed to work 40 hours per work week for purposes of CT PSL accrual.
Exempt employees whose normal workweek is less than 40 hours will accrue CT PSL based on their hours worked.
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Covered Use Reasons
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Absence for eligible employee or their child/spouse related to:
- illness, injury, or health condition
- medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition
- preventative medical care
- mental health wellness day[2]
Absence due to handling a situation involving family violence or sexual assault of the eligible employee or their child in certain circumstances.
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All of the current CT PSL covered use reasons PLUS the following public health reasons for using CT PSL:
- For closure by order of a public official, due to a public health emergency, of either an employer’s place of business or a family member’s school or place of care; and
- For a health official’s determination that the employee or a family member poses a risk to public health due to exposure to a communicable illness.
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Covered Family Members
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Child or spouse of the covered employee
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Family member will include a spouse, sibling, child, grandparent, grandchild, or parent of an employee or an individual related to the employee by blood or affinity whose close association the employee shows to be equivalent to those family relationships.
The definition of “spouse” will also include a registered domestic partner.
The definition of “child” will include an individual to whom the employee stood in loco parentis when the individual was a child
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Accrual
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One hour of CT PSL for every 40 hours worked.
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One hour of CT PSL for every 30 hours worked.
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Accrual & Use Limits
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Employers may limit CT PSL accruals and use to 40 hours per year.
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No change.
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Waiting Period
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Eligible employees are entitled to use accrued CT PSL upon completion of 680 hours of employment from the date of hire.
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Eligible employees are entitled to use accrued CT PSL upon completion of 120 days of employment from the date of hire
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Frontloading Rules
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Silent on frontloading rules.
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Frontloading will be permitted.
Employers may provide a bank of CT PSL at the beginning of a calendar year in lieu of providing carry over, as long as the leave satisfies the law’s requirements and is immediately available for employee use.
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Carryover Rules
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Eligible employees are entitled to carry over up to 40 hours of CT PSL.
Employers may offer eligible employees the voluntary option of accepting pay out in lieu of carry over.
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No change.
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Payout Upon Termination
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Employers are not required to pay out accrued, unused CT PSL to employees upon termination of employment.
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No change.
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Posting
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CT PSL posters must be conspicuously posted in a place accessible to employees at the employer’s workplace in both English and Spanish.
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In addition to the required posters, employers must provide written notice after 1/25/25, or at the time of hire (whichever is later). The Connecticut Department of Labor will post model notices on its webpage.
For employees who work remotely or employers that do not maintain a physical workplace, these written notices may be sent electronically to employees.
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Wage Statement Information
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Silent on wage statement information rules.
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Employers will be required to include the following CT PSL information on employees’ wage statements (paystubs):
- the number of hours of CT PSL accrued by or provided to the employee, and
- the number of CT PSL hours used by the employee during the calendar year.
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Recordkeeping
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Silent on recordkeeping rules.
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Employers must retain CT PSL-related records for three years. Violations of this recordkeeping requirement are subject to a civil penalty of $100 per violation.
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Employee Notice
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If the need for CT PSL is foreseeable, employers may require advance notice, not to exceed seven days prior to the date such leave is to begin, from employees.
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Employee notice requirements are removed from the expanded law.
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Documentation
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For CT PSL of three or more consecutive days, employers may require reasonable documentation that CT PSL is being used for one of the covered use reasons.
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Employers are prohibited from requiring documentation to prove that an employee’s CT PSL use was for a covered use reason.
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Replacement Worker Search
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Silent on replacement worker search.
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Employers are prohibited from requiring employees to use CT PSL to search for or find a replacement worker.
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Employee Transfer
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Silent on employee transfers.
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Employees who are transferred by their employer to another division, entity, or worksite, but remain with the same employer, must retain and be able to use their CT PSL earned while working at the prior division, entity, or worksite.
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Successor Employers
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Silent on successor employers.
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Employees of successor employers must retain and be able to use their CT PSL while employed by the original employer.
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Employer Next Steps
Employers with employees working in Connecticut should take note of these new CT PSL expansions since nearly every employer in the state will eventually be covered under the law and required to provide CT PSL to their employees.
Again — these CT PSL expansions will be phased in for employers with 25 employees or more in 2025, 11 employees or more in 2026, and at least one employee in 2027.
Additionally, employee eligibility for CT PSL will broaden to not just apply to “service workers,” but to virtually all employees working in Connecticut, with limited exceptions for seasonal employees and collectively bargained construction workers with multiemployer health plans.
With the January 1, 2025 effective date approaching for CT PSL expansions, employers with Connecticut-based employees should start working with their employment and labor counsel now on the following items to ensure compliance:
- Review and update, as necessary, leave policies and procedures,
- Review and update, as necessary, attendance and payroll systems,
- Ensure these systems are configured properly to reflect the new wage statement (paystub) information requirements
- Train Human Resources team members and other employees who manage employee leaves,
- Communicate these CT PSL updates to employees, and
- Monitor the Connecticut DOL webpage for the updated model postings and notices (when available).
Risk Strategies helps employers navigate the ever-changing and complex state/local paid leave landscape. Contact us directly at benefits@risk-strategies.com.
[1] A seasonal employee is an employee who works 121 days or less annually.
[2] Mental health wellness day means a day during which a service worker attends to their emotional and psychological well-being in lieu of attending a regularly scheduled shift.
