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.