Employees, employers to pay for CT’s paid sick leave program

Click here for updates on this story

    HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) — Connecticut’s paid leave program is set to launch early next year.

The officials behind gave an overview of it during a virtual news conference on Tuesday morning:

CT Paid Leave Authority CEO Andrea Barton Reeves provided the overview on the CT Paid Leave program, which should kick off in 2021.

In the 45-minute briefing, Barton Reeves gave a timeline for the program implementation, which starts with employer registration in November and December, and employee withholding in 2021, and field questions.

CT Paid Leave was established by General Assembly in 2019 in “Public Act 19-25, An Act Concerning Paid Family and Medical Leave,” as amended sections 232 through 235 of Public Act 19-117.

CT Paid Leave will provide up to 12 weeks (more under certain circumstances) of replacement wages for workers who take extended time off for personal illness, to care for a family member or loved one.

Lawmakers reached a deal on the program last spring.

Employees are the ones paying for it, but it costs companies in other ways.

Atlas Stamping is a small manufacturing business. It never had to provide paid leave for its employees, but now it does.

“We are highly skilled, we are aerospace manufacturers, so we have a highly skilled trade and it takes a long time in training for positions on the factory floor,” said Susan White of Atlas Stamping & Manufacturing.

While paid leave is paid for by employees, it comes at a cost to employers because they’ll have to fill and even train people to work temporarily.

With paid leave, employees get 95 percent of their salary.

While paycheck withholdings start in January, benefits don’t start until 2022.

Employees will pay .5 percent of their salary. If someone makes $40,000 annually, they pay $200 a year and it’s tax-deductible.

“As an employer, you can ask for a second option. You can ask for recertification on the medical time they have asked for,” said Andrea Barton Reeves, CT Paid Leave Authority.

The authority expects about 50,000 claims in a year.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.