Connecticut’s Paid Leave Act (CTPL)

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Published: 05.17.2021

What: Connecticut’s Paid Leave is a program administered by the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority that offers Connecticut employees access to paid time off for qualifying life events, including childbirth and seeking treatment for serious health conditions for themselves or their families. The CTPLA provides a maximum leave of up to 12 weeks of benefits in a 12-month period in connection with the approved reason for leave with an additional two weeks available in the event of a pregnancy-related health condition requires additional recovery time. Unlike CT FMLA, this leave offers payment for qualifying events, but does not offer job protection.

Beginning January 1, 2021, employers must begin withholding employee contributions of one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the employee's wages up to the Social Security contribution base. Collected contributions must be remitted to the Paid Leave Authority on a quarterly basis.

The CTPL program is not dollar for dollar wage replacement. If an employee's wages are less than or equal to the Connecticut minimum wage multiplied by 40, the weekly benefit rate under CTPL will be 95% of the employee's average weekly wage. If an employee’s wages exceed the Connecticut minimum wage multiplied by 40, your weekly benefit rate will be 95% of the Connecticut minimum wage multiplied by 40 plus 60% of the amount the employee's average weekly wage exceeds the Connecticut minimum wage multiplied by 40. The benefit rate is capped at 60 times the Connecticut minimum wage. 
 
Note: 40 times the minimum wage will be equal to $520 weekly in January 2022, increasing to $560 on July 1, 2022, and $600 on June 1, 2023. 60 times the minimum wage will be equal to $780 weekly in January 2022, increasing to $840 on July 1, 2022, and $900 on June 1, 2023.

Employees will be permitted to take paid leave under the program as of January 1, 2022, if the leave is for a reason covered under the existing Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act. These include:

• The birth of a child of the employee or placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care.
• The need to care for a family member with a serious health condition.
• A serious health condition of the employee.
• Service as an organ or bone marrow donor.
• A qualifying exigency related to the employee's spouse, son, daughter or parent being on active duty or having been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in the armed forces.
• Reasons related to family violence.

While the reasons for taking leave conform to unpaid leave under the CT FMLA, the definition of family member is expanded under the paid leave law. In addition to spouse, son, daughter or parent, all included under the current unpaid leave law, the new paid leave expands "family member" to include siblings, parents-in-law, grandparents and grandchildren, as well as any other individual related to the employee by blood or affinity whose close association the employee shows to be the equivalent of those family relationships.

Who: Employers in the State of Connecticut with one or more employees.

An employee does not need to work a specific number of hours to be covered under the CT Paid Leave program.  An employee will be eligible for benefits from the CT PLA program if he or she earns at least $2,325 in the highest earning quarter of the first four of the past five quarters and is currently working in Connecticut, or an unemployed individual who had worked in Connecticut during the past 12 weeks, or is a sole proprietor or self-employed individual who has enrolled in the CT Paid Leave program.  

Employees (as opposed to sole proprietors and self-employed individuals) do not need to be a resident of CT. Employees for whom an employer is paying CT unemployment insurance and CT payroll taxes are considered to be working in CT.

To Do: Starting in July 2022, every employer is required to provide its employees with written notice describing job-protected leave provided under the Connecticut Family & Medical Leave Act (not to be confused with CTPFL); the opportunity to apply for income-replacement benefits from the CT Paid Leave Authority; the retaliation protections provided by the CT Family & Medical Leave Act; and the employee's right to file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner.  

Although there is no legal requirement to provide any notices or post posters at this time, the CT Paid Leave Authority encourages employers to share the CT Paid Leave employee factsheet found at ctpaidleave.org with their employees. The employee factsheet may be downloaded from the bottom of the “For Employees” page on the website.   
 
Source: Connecticut Paid Leave: ctpaidleave.org