General Assembly Expands Eligibility for CT Family Medical Leave Act and CT Paid Leave

Effective October 1, 2025, access to the Connecticut Family Medical Leave Act (“CT FMLA”) and Connecticut Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance (“CT Paid Leave”) will be expanded to include all non-certified school employees at both public schools and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools in Connecticut.

Under current law, CT FMLA and CT Paid Leave coverage for school employees depends on collective bargaining agreements.  School employees (whether at public or nonpublic schools) are not automatically entitled to these benefits unless the school and union agree to provide them through the negotiation process.  House Bill 7288 changes that framework for non-certified employees.

CT FMLA Eligibility
The bill will make employees whose positions do not require a professional certification under chapter 166 eligible for CT FMLA, if they have been employed for at least three months during the previous twelve-month period by their employer.  This is a reduced tenure requirement compared with the standard CTFMLA requirement of having been employed by the company for at least 3 months immediately preceding the leave.   In essence, this bill will allow all non-certified employees of “public school operator[s]” to access CT FMLA. Moreover, because nonpublic elementary or secondary schools often do not require professional certification for their employees, the bill will effectively allow all employees at such schools  – including teachers and administrators – to access CT FMLA. 

Under the bill, “public school operator” is defined as having “the same meaning as provided in section 31-49e.”  Conveniently, the bill newly defines “public school operator” in Section 31-49e as “a local or regional board of education, an interdistrict magnet school operator, including an interdistrict magnet school operator described in section 10-264s, a state or local charter school, an endowed or incorporated academy approved by the State Board of Education pursuant to section 10-76d or a cooperative arrangement pursuant to section 10-158a.” This new definition replaces the use of “local or regional board of education” in the statutory scheme and is likely meant to encompass all public-school entities in the State.

In the grand scheme, most of these employees were already covered by federal FMLA.  However, this change means that public and private schools alike should familiarize themselves with the differences between Connecticut and Federal FMLA to ensure proper administration.

CT Paid Leave Eligibility
In addition to being able to access CT FMLA, non-certified employees of public and private schools will now be considered covered employees for the purposes of CT Paid Leave.  These employees will now be able to apply for Connecticut paid leave benefits when they experience a covered condition.  As a reminder, CT Paid Leave is not job protected leave, but it does provide employees with income replacement while taking time off for a qualifying reason.  It often runs concurrently with CT and Federal FMLA.   While the paid leave is administered through Connecticut’s Paid Leave Authority, newly covered employers will need to take note of their obligations under the law: namely, providing notice and remitting the .5% of your employee’s wages to distribute to the state to fund the program.  Employers should also evaluate whether they will require employees to use their accrued paid time off prior to accessing CT Paid Leave.