How CT Paid Leave Works

For covered workers, CT Paid Leave allows you to take the time you need to address your own health conditions - or those of your family - without worrying about lost income while you are away from work.

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What is CT Paid Leave?

CT Paid Leave allows eligible workers to receive income replacement benefits when they need to take time away from work for qualifying reasons.

Keep in mind that CT Paid Leave does not provide job protection - that is the purpose of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), the Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act (CT FMLA) and the Connecticut Family Violence Leave Act. 

Types of Leave

Continuous Leave

An absence taken as a consecutive span of time for a single qualifying reason.

Intermittent Leave

A leave in separate, non-consecutive time periods rather than a single span of time for a single qualifying reason.

Reduced Schedule

A leave schedule that reduces an employee’s usual number of working hours per workweek, or hours per workday for a period of time, normally from a full-time schedule to a part-time schedule.

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Is CT Paid Leave job protected?

CT Paid Leave provides income replacement benefits for qualifying reasons, but it does not provide job protected time away from work.

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Which businesses must participate? Which workers are eligible?

CT Paid Leave applies to most employers with one or more workers in Connecticut.

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What are the worker contributions?

CT Paid Leave is funded through a small contribution of 0.5% from worker paychecks.

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How do employers submit contributions?

Employers are required to deduct the 0.5% worker contribution via payroll deductions and remit these contributions quarterly to the CT Paid Leave Authority.

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For what reasons can workers apply for benefits?

There are 6 qualifying reasons for income replacement benefits under CT Paid Leave.

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How can workers apply for benefits?

Apply directly through this website. Start your application 30 days in advance of your intended first day of leave.

Frequently Asked Questions

Generally, leave under the federal and Connecticut FMLA — and Connecticut Paid Leave  benefits from the CT Paid Leave Authority — are limited to 12 weeks in a 12-month period, with the possibility of 2 additional weeks of leave for incapacity during pregnancy. Individuals caring for a family member who was injured while on active duty in the military can take up to 26 weeks of leave, but only 12 weeks of that leave is eligible for paid benefits from the CT Paid Leave Authority.  

Benefits received from the CT Paid Leave Authority are income replacement only and are not a guarantee for job-protection.  If you have questions about job-protected leave, contact your Human Resource department or the CT Department of Labor (email address: dol.ctfmla@ct.gov).

An employee may take job-protected leave for qualifying reasons under CT FMLA (and, if eligible, federal FMLA) and could receive income-replacement benefits while out of work for qualifying reasons under CT Paid Leave.  If an employee needs to take intermittent leave because of a qualifying reason, the rules are established by CT FMLA (and, if eligible, federal FMLA). Under federal and CT FMLA, the employer cannot require the employee to take more job-protected leave than the employee needs. The CT FMLA regulations state “There is no limit on the size of an increment of leave when an employee takes intermittent leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule. However, an employer may limit leave increments to the shortest period of time that the employer’s payroll system uses to account for absences or use of leave, provided it is one hour or less.” [31-51qq-14(d)] The federal FMLA regulations have a similar standard; however, the federal FMLA regulations state that even if the payroll system can account for absences of less than 15 minutes, the employer can opt to establish 15 minutes as the minimum increment of leave. Both federal FMLA and CT FMLA state that it is the employer’s choice as to whether to allow intermittent leave for bonding. Employers must notify their employees about their policy.

In terms of CT Paid Leave, if an employee who is eligible for CT Paid Leave benefits reports that they need income replacement in connection with intermittent absences for a covered reason, the CT Paid Leave Authority will pay income replacement benefits based on the reported time off, to the minute.

Claimants must notify CT Paid Leave within two days of each intermittent absence.