Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave

On June 25, 2019 Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed legislation that will enact the Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (CTPFML). With an effective date of January 1, 2022, employees will have access to time off from work in order to care for their own health, a newborn child or a sick family member. See below for further details regarding this bill.

Employer Coverage

Any person engaged in any activity, enterprise, or business who employs one or more employees. This does exclude the federal government, the state or municipality, and public schools.

Employee Coverage

An individual who has earned not less than $2,325 in earnings during the employees highest earning quarter with a base period, an employee who is currently employed by a covered employer and has worked for the employer in the previous 12 weeks, with no minimum hours requirement.  This also includes a self-employed individual or sole proprietor within the state of Connecticut.

Approved Uses

The CTPFML provides employees with 12 weeks of paid in within a 12-month period to care for themselves, a covered family member, or equivalent of a family member. The bill also expands the family members for whom employees may use up to two weeks of any employer-provided paid sick leave. Employees incapacitated by pregnancy are eligible for an additional two weeks of paid leave, for a maximum of 14 weeks.  

Contributions

Employees will receive a compensation benefit determined on a sliding scale, with lower-paid workers receiving the maximum benefit of up to 95% of their regular weekly pay, to be capped at a sum not to exceed 60 times the minimum wage.

The paid leave benefit will be funded by an employee payroll tax of up to 0.5%, with contributions beginning on January 1, 2021. Employers will not be required to contribute toward the program, but will be responsible for withholding the employee tax and remitting the funds to the state Family and Medical Leave Insurance Trust Fund.

The bill allows employers to apply for permission to provide benefits through a private plan option, which must provide employees with at least the same level of benefits under the same conditions and costs as the state program.  Employees covered by a private plan are exempt from contributing to the state program.

Notice and Record Retention

The Act requires notice and documentation requirements on both employees and employers.  Employees must provide notice of the need for benefits to the agency and, if required by the agency the employer must verify the employee’s current compensation level and confirm the need for leave.  Starting July 1, 2022, employers must notify their employees at the time of hiring and annually thereafter about their entitlement to family and medical leave and family violence leave, and their right to file a benefits claim.

Next Steps

At this point, Connecticut has only released draft regulations. We will be monitoring this law and will provide more information as it is released.

To read the draft regulations, please click here.

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This information is provided as a courtesy, may change and is not intended as legal or tax guidance. Employers with questions or concerns outside the scope of a Payroll Service Provider are encouraged to seek the advice of a qualified CPA, Tax Attorney or Advisor.