As most manufacturers know, the Connecticut Legislature passed significant amendments to the Connecticut Paid Sick Leave (PSL) law, which are set to go into effect on January 1, 2025, and pertains to employers with 25 or more employees. Just in time, the Connecticut Department of Labor (DOL) has published important guidance (Guidance) regarding these wide-ranging changes, which manufacturers may find helpful as they revise policies and procedures to ensure compliance with these significant amendments. Below are some of the most essential parts of the DOL’s guidance that may impact manufacturers:

• Two Different “120-Day” Rules in the Amended Law

The amended PSL law provides that covered employees are entitled to use accrued paid sick leave on or after 120 calendar days of employment, meaning they have been “on payroll” for three months. The Guidance clarifies that the 120 calendar days begin on the employee’s hire date and that employees who meet the 120-day threshold as of January 1, 2025, do not need to wait to use accrued paid sick leave. Similarly, employees who began their employment prior to January 1, 2025, but have not yet worked 120 days must wait until their 120th day of employment before using accrued paid sick leave.

Also, under the amended law, “seasonal employees,” defined as employees who work 120 or fewer days in a year, are not covered by the new law. The critical distinction between the new hire waiting period and the seasonal employee workday threshold is that new hires must wait 120 calendar days before using accrued paid sick leave. In contrast, seasonal employees are not eligible for paid sick leave until they have worked 121 or more days in a year.

The Guidance clarifies that if a seasonal employee remains employed and works 121 or more days in a year, they will become eligible for accrued paid sick leave. Importantly, in such an instance, a formerly “seasonal” employee would be entitled to use accrued paid sick leave beginning on workday 121 and thereafter, based on the hours worked in their first 120 days.

• Documentation and Notice Prohibited

Under the amended PSL law, employers cannot require documentation of paid sick leave use from employees. Instead, employers can only ask employees if they are taking time off pursuant to the PSL law but cannot gather specific details or documentation to support the request. The Guidance states that if an employee refuses to provide enough information for an employer to determine that the absence is covered under the PSL law, the employer should not apply the employee’s accrued paid leave to the absence.

The Guidance also clarifies that if an employee uses paid sick leave concurrently with a law that permits return-to-work or fitness-for-duty certifications, such as the federal or state Family and Medical Leave Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employer may request such documentation. However, if such documentation is requested, it may not be used to deny an employee’s use of paid sick leave.

The Guidance also clarified employers may require employees to provide notice “as soon as practicable” of the need to use paid sick leave as it relates to notice that employees must provide in advance of using paid sick leave, , so long as employees are not disciplined for failing to follow the employer’s requirements regarding the timing of the notice.

• Ensuring Compliance with Existing PTO Policies

Concerning manufacturers who may have a Paid Time Off (PTO) policy, the Guidance clarifies that employees who use all of their accrued PTO by taking a family vacation will be deemed to have exhausted their 40 hours of paid sick leave. For future absences in the same year that would have otherwise qualified as a paid sick leave-related absence, the employer would be permitted to require advance notice and documentation, and the other requirements of the PSL law would not need to be satisfied.

However, the DOL cautions that an employee’s absences related to paid sick leave should not be treated as an “occurrence” under the employer’s attendance policy. That being said, employers may have a policy about using sick time as illustrated above and beyond the 40 hours required by law (and presumably, could discipline for various reasons when time is used above the 40-hour threshold).

• Carrying Over or Paying Out

The amended PSL law provides that employees may carry over up to 40 hours of unused accrued paid sick leave per year unless the employer frontloads the time, in which case, carry over is not required. The Guidance further clarifies that an employer may also offer to pay out an employee’s unused accrued paid sick leave in lieu of carrying over to the following year, but only if an employer and employee agree. Employers that do not frontload paid sick leave may want to consider offering employees a payout option to better manage workforce and staffing levels at the beginning of the following year before paid sick leave accruals grow.

There is likely to be additional forthcoming guidance from the DOL as the amended PSL law goes into effect beginning in January. In addition to carefully reviewing the amended PSL law and the DOL’s guidance, employers should consult competent employment counsel.