Connecticut Expands Paid Sick Leave Law: What Employers Need to Know for 2025

All Connecticut employers should be aware of the expansion of the paid sick leave law beginning to take effect in 2025. On May 6, 2024, the Connecticut Senate approved legislation to greatly revise and expand coverage of the Connecticut paid sick leave law.

This law will continue to expand over the next few years, with the first part of the expansion taking effect January 1, 2025. Additional expansion will take place January 1, 2026, and January 1, 2027. It’s important that Connecticut employers and HR professionals are informed of these 2025 Connecticut paid sick leave updates so they can begin making the necessary preparation to ensure CT sick leave compliance. 

Employer Coverage Changes

As mentioned, the Connecticut paid sick leave expansion will take place in three stages so as to affect businesses of different sizes at various compliance dates. 

Here are the dates and details to be aware of for each stage of this expansion.

• January 1, 2025: Employers employing 25 or more individuals in the state.
• January 1, 2026: Employers employing 11 or more individuals in the state.
• January 1, 2027: Employers employing one or more individuals in the state.

Currently, Connecticut’s paid sick leave law applies to employers with 50 or more individuals, so this law will significantly lower the threshold of coverage for employees. As you can see, starting on January 1, 2025, the threshold will be lowered annually until it will apply to even Connecticut employers with at least one employee. Employers should be aware of these threshold dates to ensure they are providing and notifying their employees of their paid sick leave coverage.

To determine your threshold, employers should use the number of employees on their payroll during the January payroll cycle to determine your employee count.

Employee Coverage and Exemptions

There are certain exceptions and conditions of the paid sick leave for employees in Connecticut that determine whether or not an employee may receive paid leave.

In addition to the threshold expansion, it’s important to also discuss the expansion of individuals eligible for guaranteed paid sick leave. Currently, Connecticut’s sick leave only guarantees paid leave to “service workers." The term “service workers” will be removed from the law entirely beginning January 1, 2025, and coverage will be available to all employees, no matter their job definition. 

There are limited exceptions, however. For example, certain seasonal employees may not be eligible for Connecticut’s paid sick leave law. The term “seasonal employees” refers to employees who work 120 days or less in a year. Additionally, certain unionized employees whose employers participate in a multiemployer health plan may also be an exception to this newly expanded law.

Accrual, Carryover, and Frontloading of Paid Sick Leave

According to the current Connecticut paid sick leave law, service workers can accrue a maximum of 40 hours per year and are allowed to carry over at least 40 hours of their unused sick leave. While these requirements have not been changed, they now apply to all eligible employees, rather than just “service workers.”

Part of the 2025 Connecticut paid sick leave updates will affect the paid sick leave accrual rate. The rate will be accelerated to one hour per 30 hours worked, compared to the current rate of one hour per 40 hours worked. Employees must be allowed to use their accrued paid sick leave beginning on their 120^th calendar day of employment.

Now, the new paid sick leave for employees in Connecticut allows employees to retain their accrued sick leave in the case that they are transferred within an employer to another division, entity, or worksite. Also, in the case that another employer “succeeds or takes the place of” their existing employer, employees must be able to retain their accrued paid sick leave.

In addition, part of the Connecticut paid sick leave law will permit employers to provide a frontloading method of paid leave for employees. This means that as an alternative to accruing paid sick leave over the year, employers may provide their employees with a bank of paid sick leave upfront at the beginning of the calendar year, which is immediately available for use. If employers use this method of paid sick leave provision, then employees are typically not allowed to carry over sick leave.

Employers should note that neither the current Connecticut laws nor the 2025 Connecticut paid sick leave updates require employers to pay out accrued sick leave to their employees upon termination.

Permissible Uses of Paid Sick Leave

So, what are the acceptable reasons that an employee can use their paid sick leave? There are currently specified reasons for employees to use their sick leave, and with the expansion of law, so expands the permitted reasons for using paid sick leave. 

With this change, paid sick leave for employees in Connecticut will be available for use for the following reasons: 

• Regarding either the employee’s own or family member’s illness, injury, or health condition
• A medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of either the employee or employee’s family member 
• Preventive medical care for the employee’s or employee’s family member’s mental or physical health
• Employee’s own mental health wellness day
• The closure of their workplace as a result of an order of a public official due to a public health emergency, or the closure of a family member’s school or place of care 
• Certain reasons related to either the employee or their family member being a victim of family violence or sexual assault

After the 2025 Connecticut paid sick leave updates take effect, employees will be able to use their sick leave not just for a personal situation—but for any family member as well. The term family member here is broadly defined as anyone whose relationship to the employee is equivalent to a family relationship.

Employer Obligations for Employee Notification

Employers must give their employees plenty of notice regarding the Connecticut paid sick leave expansion. These requirements apply to all employers—not just those immediately affected by the lowering of the 2025 threshold. 

Employers of all sizes must follow these requirements regarding paid leave communication: 

• Employers must give all employees written notice about their sick leave rights by January 1, 2025, or upon their hiring date—whichever is later.
• Employers must post notice of the new sick leave rights in both English and Spanish. This notice must be in an obvious, accessible workplace location. 
• For remote employees, the notice must be provided to them either by email or on a web or app-based platform to which they have access.

In addition to these requirements, employers must also provide ongoing written communication to their employees regarding both the number of paid sick leave hours available and the number of hours of paid sick leave the employee has used during the calendar year. Employers can add this information to the employee’s pay stub or electronically, as long as your employee can access it privately and print out the information.

Action Items for Employers

So, how can employers ensure compliance with these new Connecticut paid leave law updates? CT sick leave compliance is essential for businesses, and employers should make sure that they are informed of every aspect of the new Connecticut paid sick leave expansion to ensure compliance.

Follow the below employers checklist to help ensure compliance.

1. Carefully ensure that you are meeting all required written communication methods with employees regarding the Connecticut paid sick leave changes prior to January 1, 2025.
2. Update your handbooks and policies to reflect the new sick leave accrual rate and the inclusion of newly eligible employees. 
3. Communicate with employees the new permitted uses of paid sick leave in regards to themselves or a family member.
4. Beginning January 1, 2025, employers are prohibited from requiring employees who are using their paid sick leave to search for or find a replacement for their scheduled hours.
5. Employers will also be prohibited from requiring employees to provide any sort of documentation to prove that their paid sick leave was being taken for one of the permitted reasons.

Conclusion

The expansion of the Connecticut paid sick leave law will cover nearly all employers and employees. Connecticut's paid sick leave law will expand significantly starting January 1, 2025, and affect employers in three phases: first for those with 25 or more employees, then 11 or more in 2026, and ultimately all employers with one or more employees by January 1, 2027.

The new law will increase eligibility for employees, extend permitted sick leave reasons, and increase the rate of accruing paid leave. Employers need to prepare by understanding key compliance dates, which employees are covered, accrual methods, and written notification requirements.

As state laws vary and change, it’s essential that businesses stay up-to-date and informed so they can ensure they’re in compliance. But we get it; sometimes it can be overwhelming. Fortunately, automated payroll and HR systems can greatly help take the pressure off employers by providing professional guidance. This can help businesses better understand the steps they need to take as well as greatly reduce the pressure and burden of staying compliant.

To help your business ensure compliance with new state laws, enlist the aid of Complete Payroll to help your business navigate ever-changing payroll and HR laws regulations!