On May 28, 2024, Governor Ned Lamont signed legislation expanding Connecticut’s 2011 Sick Leave Law. The new legislation is effective on January 1st, 2025. The law covers more employees, expands the reasons under which employees may use paid sick leave, and reduces the required hours to accrue paid sick leave. Who is covered by the new law? Currently under Connecticut law, employers with more than 50 employees in specific retail and service occupations must provide their employees with up to 40 hours of paid sick leave annually. The new law expands the type of eligible worker to almost every occupation (not just retail or service occupations). It also expands the number of employers who must comply by reducing the number of employees they must employ to be covered. It is important to note that seasonal employees and certain other temporary workers remain exempt. The threshold number of employees required for coverage is gradually being lowered. Starting January 1, 2025, employers with 25 employees must provide their employees with paid sick leave: this drops to 11 employees on January 1, 2026, and one employee on January 1, 2027. When can employees use paid sick leave? Governor Lamont declared the current law leaves “broad categories… unprotected….” In response, the legislation has extended the definition of a family member to include more than that person’s minor children. This expansion includes “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 legislation also addresses the impact COVID-19 had on employees, allowing paid sick leave to be taken in instances related to declarations of a public health emergency. How do employees accrue paid sick days? Eligible employees will now accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, accruing up to 40 hours per year. This is a ten-hour reduction from the previous one hour for every 40 hours worked. Employers may grant more time off or allow accrual at a faster rate. Limits on Employers’ Control over the Use of Sick Time In Connecticut and across the nation, generic Paid Time Off policies have replaced the old-fashioned sick leave, personal leave, vacation, and many other forms of paid time off. As a result, sick leave mandates are allowed to be covered by PTO. Thus, when a company offers four weeks of PTO, they are really offering three weeks of PTO and one week of sick time. The question we address here is if employers can put any limitations on how employees use their sick time. When Connecticut’s Sick Leave law was first effective in 1997, employers had the right to mandate that employees use their sick leave when they take other unpaid leaves. The employers’ motivation was to limit how much total time off employees were allowed. That all changed on January 1, 2022. In 2022, the law was amended to require employers leave at least two weeks of PTO to be used at the total discretion of the employee. This change was missed by most employers. To be sure you don’t run afoul of this law, employers should check their policies to ensure the mandated use of sick leave for all unpaid leaves is not their policy and not in their handbooks. Brody and Associates regularly advises management on complying with the latest local, state and federal employment laws. If we can be of assistance in this area, please contact us at info@brodyandassociates.com or 203.454.0560
