Glossary of Terms

Need to learn more about CT Paid Leave "terms"? The glossary provides definitions for some of the most frequently used terms on our web site.

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The Glossary

Term
Definition
ACH Credit An "Automated Clearing House (ACH) Credit" payment occurs whenever someone instructs the ACH network to “push” money from their account to someone else's. This could be an employer (often via some processing partner) pushing payroll to their employees, or a government agency pushing cash payments to eligible citizens.
Acknowledgement File An "Acknowledgement File" is a file used to communicate processing results for Enrollment files or Return files back to the submitter. It will document the status of the submitted file after processing and communicate any processing errors encountered.
Amended Return An "Amended Return" is the return you file if you need to change the data that was reported in your original return file. For example, if you initially reported $20,000.00 in contributions due, then realized you should have reported $21,000.00, you can file an amended return.
Armed Services "Armed Services" include the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force or any reserve component thereof, including the Connecticut National Guard performing federal military duty as provided in Title 32 of the United States Code.
Average Weekly Wage A worker's "Average Weekly Wage" equals 1/26th of the sum of their two highest earning quarters in the base period.
Base Period The "Base Period" is the first 4 of the 5 most recently completed quarters.
Block Leave "Block Leave" is a continuous absence for one single qualifying reason.
Bonding Leave

"Bonding Leave" is leave taken by an employee in order to:

  • Bond with a newborn child
  • Process the adoption of a child or bond with a newly adopted child
  • Process the placement of a foster child or bond with a newly placed foster child
Caregiver Leave "Caregiver Leave" is leave taken by an employee who is "needed to care for" a "family member" who has a "serious health condition".
Child "Child," means a biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild, a legal ward, or child of a person standing "in loco parentis," of any age.
Contributing Employer "Contributing Employers" pay quarterly unemployment taxes on the first $15,000 in wages paid to their employees each year. Reimbursing employers are billed by DOL for the actual amount of benefits paid to former employees collecting unemployment; this option is only available to the state, municipalities, Native American tribes, and non-profits.
Covered Service Member A "Covered Service Member" is a current member of the Armed Services. "Covered Service Member" for purposes of military caregiver leave does not include veterans.
CT FMLA Connecticut Family & Medical Leave Act
CT Gross Wages If you are a “Contributing Employer” for purposes of the CT Unemployment Insurance program, "CT Gross Wages" is the number you listed on line 1 of Connecticut Department of Labor’s Form Conn UC-2, the Employee Quarterly Earnings Report. If you are not a contributing employer, "CT Gross Wages" is the number you listed in section 1, line 2 of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services’ Form CT-941, the Connecticut Quarterly Reconciliation of Withholding.
CTPL CT Paid Leave/Connecticut Paid Leave
Enrollment File The Enrollment file conveys the association between your business, as a TPA, and your client employers. To establish a company-to-company relationship in our system the Enrollment File requires Federal Employer Identification Numbers (FEIN) as identifiers for the participating client employers. We recognize that business relationships between your business and client employers may change over time. Enrollment files are also used to provide the date you start remitting to CTPL on behalf of the client employer and the end date for when you will no longer be remitting to CTPL on behalf of the client employer. While the preferred format for Enrollment Files is XML, an alternate CSV format can be used by TPAs who are unable to produce XML.
Family Member “Family Member” means a child, spouse, sibling, son or daughter, grandparent, grandchild, parent, or an individual related to the employee by blood or affinity whose close association the employee shows to be the equivalent of those family relationships.
Family Violence “Family violence” means an incident resulting in physical harm, bodily injury or assault, or an act of threatened violence that constitutes fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury or assault, including, but not limited to, stalking or a pattern of threatening, between family or household members. Verbal abuse or argument does not constitute family violence unless there is present danger and the likelihood that physical violence will occur.
FAQs Frequently Asked Questions
Federal FMLA Federal Family & Medical Leave Act
FEIN Federal Employer ID Number
FICA Wages "FICA Wages" are the portion of income subject to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), a federal law that requires employers to pay and withhold certain taxes from the wages they pay employees.
Grandchild "Grandchild" means a grandchild related to a person by (A) blood, (B) marriage, (C) adoption by a child of the grandparent, or (D) foster care by a child of the grandparent.
Grandparent "Grandparent" means a grandparent related to a person by (A) blood, (B) marriage, (C) adoption of a minor child by a child of the grandparent, or (D) foster care by a child of the grandparent.
Health Care Provider

"Health Care Provider" means:

  • A doctor of medicine or osteopathy authorized to practice medicine or surgery by
    the state in which the doctor practices
  • A podiatrist, dentist, psychologist, or optometrist authorized to practice in the state
    and performing within the scope of his or her practice
  • A chiropractor authorized to practice in the state and performing within the scope
    of his or her practice
  • A nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife, clinical social worker, or physician assistant
    authorized to practice in the state and performing within the scope of his or her
    practice
  • A Christian Science practitioner listed with the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in
    Boston, Massachusetts
  • Any health care provider from whom the employer or the employer’s group health
    plan’s benefits manager will accept a medical certification to substantiate a claim
    for benefits
  • A health care provider who practices in a country other than the United Sates, who
    is licensed to practice in accordance with the laws and regulations of that country
  • Such other health care provider as the Labor Commissioner determines
    performing with the scope of the authorized practice
In loco parentis

"In loco parentis" means:

  • "In the place of the parent"
  • An individual stands in loco parentis to a child if he or she has day-to-day responsibilities to care for or financially support the child and the individual intends to take on the role of a parent to that child or the person in the place of a parent who had such responsibility for the individual when the individual
    was a child.
  • The person standing in loco parentis is not required to have a biological or legal relationship with the child
Incapacity "Incapacity" means the inability to work, attend school or perform other regular daily activities due to the serious health condition, treatment of the serious health condition, or recovery from the serious health condition.
Intermittent Leave "Intermittent Leave" is leave taken in separate, non-consecutive time periods rather than a single span of time for a single qualifying reason.
Invoice An "Invoice" is a summary of your contribution wage reporting to CT Paid Leave.
NAICS North American Industry Classification System
Needed to care for "Needed to Care For" means the employee is providing (or will provide) physical or psychological care or psychological comfort and reassurance.
Next of Kin of a Covered Service Member

"Next of Kin of a Covered Service Member" means the covered service member’s nearest blood relative, other than the covered service member’s spouse, parent, son or daughter, in the following order of priority:

  • Blood relatives or any other individual whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family member who the covered service member has specifically designated in writing as his or her next of kin for purposes of military caregiver leave,
  • Blood relatives who have been granted legal custody of the service member by court decree or statutory provisions,
  • Brothers and sisters,
  • Grandparents,
  • Aunts and uncles, and
  • First cousins
Non-Contributing Employer (Reimbursing Employer) "Non-Contributing Employers (Reimbursing Employers)" are billed by DOL for the actual amount of benefits paid to former employees collecting unemployment; this option is only available to the state, municipalities, Native American tribes, and non-profits.
Parent "Parent" means a biological, adopted, or foster parent, step-parent, parent-in-law, person standing in loco parentis to a child or a person who has legal guardianship or custody of a child.
PFMLA Paid Family and Medical Leave Act
Reduced Schedule Leave "Reduced Schedule Leave" is 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.
Reporting Quarter "Reporting Quarter" means the 3-month period covered by each quarterly contribution filing. The reporting quarters (1, 2, 3, and 4) end on the last day of March, June, September, and December respectively. The Quarter during which the wages were paid should be used in determining reporting quarter. For example, if your pay period started in Q1 but ended in Q2, these wages would be reported as Q2 Wages.
Reporting Year "Reporting Year" is the calendar year starting on January 1st and ending on December 31st for which you are filing.
Return A "Return" is the file submitted that contains information about contributions made on behalf of Employers, itemized down to the employee level.
 Safe Leave

Safe Leave is taken by a worker who is a victim of family violence or sexual assault to address specific issues arising from those circumstances:

  • to seek medical care of psychological or other counseling for physical or psychological injury or disability for the victim
  • to obtain services from a victim services organization on behalf of the victim
  • to relocate due to such family violence or sexual assault
  • to participate in any civil or criminal proceedings related to or arising from such family violence or sexual assault
Self-employment Income

"Self-employment Income" means the net earnings from self-employment derived by an individual (other than a nonresident alien individual, except as provided by an agreement under section 233 of the Social Security Act) during any taxable year; except that such term shall not include:

(1) in the case of the tax imposed by section 1401(a), that part of the net earnings from self-employment which is in excess of (i) an amount equal to the contribution and benefit base (as determined under section 230 of the Social Security Act) which is effective for the calendar year in which such taxable year begins, minus (ii) the amount of the wages paid to such individual during such taxable years; or

(2) the net earnings from self-employment, if such net earnings for the taxable year are less than $400. For purposes of paragraph (1), the term "wages" (A) includes such remuneration paid to an employee for services included under an agreement entered into pursuant to the provisions of section 3121(l) (relating to coverage of citizens of the United States who are employees of foreign affiliates of American employers), as would be wages under section 3121(a) if such services constituted employment under section 3121(b), and (B) includes compensation which is subject to the tax imposed by section 3201 or 3211. An individual who is not a citizen of the United States but who is a resident of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa shall not, for purposes of this chapter be considered to be a nonresident alien individual. In the case of church employee income, the special rules of subsection (j)(2) shall apply for purposes of paragraph (2). and (B) includes compensation which is subject to the tax imposed by section 3201 or 3211. An individual who is not a citizen of the United States but who is a resident of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa shall not, for purposes of this chapter be considered to be a nonresident alien individual. In the case of church employee income, the special rules of subsection (j)(2) shall apply for purposes of paragraph (2).

SFTP Secure File Transfer Protocol
Sibling "Sibling" means the biological sibling, half-sibling, stepsibling, adopted sibling, foster sibling, or sibling-in-law of the eligible employee or the eligible employee’s spouse.
Social Security Contribution Base The "Social Security Contribution Base" is the maximum amount of earned income on which employees must pay Social Security taxes. See https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html for more information.
Spouse "Spouse" means a person to whom one is legally married.
SSN Social Security Number
Subject Earnings "Subject Earnings" means total wages, as defined in subsection (b) of section 31-222 and self-employment income as defined in 26 USC 1402(b), as amended from time to time, that shall not exceed the Social Security contribution and benefit base, as determined pursuant to 42 USC 430, as amended from time to time, provided self-employment income shall be included only if the recipient has enrolled in the program pursuant to section 31-49m.
Total Wages "Total Wages" is defined as "all remuneration for employment and dismissal payments, including the cash value of all remuneration paid in any medium other than cash except the cash value of any remuneration paid for agricultural labor or domestic service in any medium other than cash" provided that the wages subject to contribution are capped at the Social Security contribution base. The base for purposes of calculating an employee's Paid Family and Medical Leave contribution is the same as that used for determining FICA.
TPA Third-Party Administrator