Payroll and Benefits Guide United States – Connecticut

Annual Leave (vacation)

Connecticut does not have any state laws that govern paid time off. However, it is common for employers to decide whether to offer paid or unpaid vacation leave.

This must comply with employment law and must be stipulated in the collective bargaining agreements.

Public Holidays

Public holidays are not mandatory paid days off, but employers commonly allow workers to take federal holidays as paid days off.

Some companies might also agree to allow workers to take off state holidays; workers can find specific state holiday dates from their local government.

Usually when an agreed public holiday falls on a weekend, a day off in lieu is given on the Friday before or the Monday after the holiday.

Sick Days

It is common for an employer to follow the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for certain family and medical reasons (maternity leave, serious illnesses, or if the employee needs to care for a spouse or child).

Employees are eligible for FMLA if they have worked for their employer for at least one year, completed a minimum of 1,250 hours over the past year, and worked at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles.

FMLA eligible employees are entitled to:

• 12 working weeks of leave in any one year for a child’s birth and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth.
• Leave for the adoption or foster care of a child and care for the newly placed child within one year of placement.
• Care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a severe health condition.
• Leave in the event of a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of their job.
• Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty.”

Or

• 26 working weeks of leave during a single one-year period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).

In addition to the FMLA, state law grants 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours of work when an employer has more than 50 employees.

The maximum amount of sick leave that an employee can accrue is 40 hours per year.

For employers with more than 75 employees, there is also the Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act (CTFMLA), which entitles the employees (once they have completed one year of service and worked at least 1,000 hours within that year) to up to 16 weeks of unpaid leave within a 24-month timeframe.

In addition to the protection of the FMLA, there is the Pregnancy Discrimination and Accommodation in the Workplace, which entitles employees (only for companies of 3 or more employees), with unpaid pregnancy leave due to disability related to pregnancy or childbirth, of an average of six to eight weeks.

Maternity Leave

Maternity leave falls under the FMLA, the CTFMLA, and Pregnancy Discrimination and Accommodation in the Workplace (see Sick Leave).

Paternity Leave

Paternity leave falls under the FMLA  (see Sick Leave).

Parental Leave

Parental leave falls under the FMLA (see Sick Leave).

Other Leave

• Jury Duty: Full-time employees (working at least 30 hours) are entitled to job-protected, paid leave of their regular pay for the first 5 days of jury duty, as a witness in a case, responding to a subpoena, or acting as a plaintiff or defendant in the courts. Employees must provide a copy of the jury summons to the employer as evidence of requirement.
• In addition to the federal law USERRA, Connecticut law provides protection against discrimination for members of U.S. armed forces, reserves, National Guard, commissioned corps of the public health service, and any other category of persons designated by the president in a time of war or emergency.