Paid Sick Leave in Connecticut (CT)

In 2024, Connecticut significantly expanded its paid sick leave law. As a result, paid sick leave will eventually apply to all Connecticut employers, according to the following schedule:

• Jan. 1, 2025: Employers with 25 or more employees in the state
• Jan. 1, 2026: Employers with 11 or more employees in the state
• Jan. 1, 2027: Employers with one or more employees in the state

?Eligible Employees

All employees of covered employers are entitled to paid sick leave except collectively bargained construction workers with multiemployer health plans and seasonal workers, defined as those who work fewer than 121 days annually.

?Accrual and Carryover

Employees start to accrue leave on the date their employer becomes covered by the law or the employee’s first day of employment—whichever is later. Leave accrues at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year.

Employers may cap employee use of paid sick leave at 40 hours per year. Unused leave carries over into the next year, up to a maximum of 40 hours. However, employers may avoid carryover by frontloading 40 hours of paid sick leave at the beginning of the following year. There is no payout requirement at separation of employment, unless the employer's policy, employment contract or collective bargaining agreement provides for payout.

?Use of Paid Sick Leave

Employees must be allowed to use their accrued paid sick leave by their 120th calendar day of employment for the following reasons:

• The employee’s or their family member’s illness, injury or health condition;
• The medical diagnosis, care or treatment of the employee’s or their family member’s mental illness or physical illness, injury or health condition;
• Preventive medical care for the employee or their family member;
• A mental health wellness day for the employee;
• 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; or
• 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.

Employees may also use paid sick leave if the employee or the employee’s family member is a victim of family violence or sexual assault, for the following reasons:

• For medical care or psychological or other counseling for physical orpsychological injury or disability;
• To obtain services from a victim services organization;
• To relocate due to family violence or sexual assault; or
• To participate in any civil or criminal proceedings related to or resulting from family violence or sexual assault.

“Family member” means a spouse, sibling, child, grandparent, grandchild, or parent of an employee, or an individual who is related to the employee by blood or by an affinity whose close association the employee shows to be equivalent to those family relationships.

Notice

When they become covered by the law, employers must post a workplace notice in Spanish and English, advising employees of their paid sick leave rights. Employers must additionally provide written notice of these rights to each employee by Jan. 1, 2025, or at the time of hire, if later. The notice requirements may be satisfied electronically for remote work.

There are no notice or documentation requirements for employees, and employers may not request documentary proof that paid sick leave was taken for a reason allowed by the law.

Alternate Plans

Alternate employer plans may satisfy the law if they meet the law’s minimum requirements. Employers who allow more than 40 hours of paid time o may limit the use of the additional hours over 40, may apply their normal attendance and time off policy to those extra hours, and may require documentation for the use of those hours.

Employee Protections

Employer nonretaliation and nondiscrimination provisions apply.

?

lease Note: The state laws summaries featured on this site are for general informational purposes only. In addition to state law, certain municipalities may enact legislation that imposes different requirements. State and local laws change frequently and, as such, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information featured in the State Laws section. For more detailed information regarding state or local laws, please contact your state labor department or the appropriate local government agency.