Executive Summary: On May 6, 2024, the Connecticut State Senate approved a significant expansion to Connecticut’s existing paid sick leave law that took effect in 2011. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Governor Ned Lemont and will be phased in over the next three years. The most substantial change to Connecticut’s Paid Sick Leave Law will be an expansion of employers and individuals covered by the law. For instance, the current law only provides paid sick leave to “service workers” and only applies to employers with 50 or more employees working in Connecticut. However, starting January 1, 2025, covered employers must provide paid sick leave to all employees, except for those classified as seasonal employees. In addition, beginning on January 1, 2025, the employee threshold for employers will be reduced annually until January 1, 2027.
Highlights of the Expansion
Under the new law, the following employers will be covered:
- January 1, 2025 – Employers that employ 25 or more individuals in Connecticut.
- January 1, 2026 – Employers that employ 11 or more individuals in Connecticut.
- January 1, 2027 – Employers that employ 1 or more individuals in Connecticut.
The new law will also change other aspects of the existing framework. For example, under the new law, employees will accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year. In addition, employees will be able to utilize this benefit after their 120th day of employment.
The new law also expands the reasons an employee is permitted to take leave. Starting on January 1, 2025, employees will be able to take leave for the following reasons: (1) an employee’s or employee’s family member’s illness, injury, or health condition; (2) the medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of the employee or employee’s family member; (3) preventive medical care for the employee’s or employee’s family member’s mental or physical health; (4) the employee’s own mental health wellness day; (5) for certain purposes when an employee or employee’s family member is a victim of family violence or sexual assault, provided that the employee is not the alleged perpetrator; and (6) a determination by a health authority, employer of the employee, employer of a family member, or a healthcare provider of whether an employee or employee’s family member poses a risk to the health of others due to exposure to a communicable illness, whether or not the employee or family member contracted the communicable illness.
Employers will be prohibited from requiring employees who will use or are using paid sick leave to search for or find another employee to replace them. Significantly, employers will also be prohibited from requiring an employee to provide any documentation or proof that paid sick leave is being used for permitted purposes under the law.
The new law also requires employers to provide employees with written notice of their rights at the time of hire or January 1, 2025, whichever is later. In addition, employers will be required to add to each employee’s wage record information regarding that employee’s accrued sick leave hours and the amount of sick leave hours the employee has used.