On Wednesday, March 20, a revised draft of Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposal to expand Connecticut’s paid sick leave law was made available exclusively to legislators. This updated version redefines the term family member to now include all blood relatives and those with close family ties.
The revised bill was sent to lawmakers last night — less than 24 hours before a scheduled vote by the Labor and Public Employees committee.
The committee’s Co-Chair, Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott), criticized the process, telling Yankee Institute, “There is zero excuse for them to be handing out language, less than 24 hours before a meeting and hiding it from the public.”
Initially, the proposed legislation was limited to immediate family members, specifically listing spouses, siblings, children, grandparents, grandchildren, or parents of an employee. It explicitly excluded aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, or cousins, without addressing relationships that closely resemble those of a family.
The current state law only mandates businesses with more than 50 employees — with some exceptions to manufacturers and some non-profits — to provide up to 40 paid sick days yearly. However, this new legislation will now obligate all private-sector employers in the state to provide paid sick leave, irrespective of employee count.
A similar bill to expand paid sick leave was voted out of the Senate last year but died in the House.
The governor’s initial proposal (without the expansion to close associations) received a public hearing on February 22. In his written testimony, Gov. Lamont highlighted that Connecticut was among the first states to implement a paid sick day law in 2011, stating, “while we were once the nation’s leader on this issue, we have fallen behind over the years.” He emphasized the need for modernization by asserting, “it is now time to take action to update our state’s protections.”
However, business community members are not buying what the governor is selling, voicing their opposition to his proposal during the public hearing.
In written testimony, Andy Markowski, the State Director of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), referenced surveys by the NFIB to underscore that the “large majority of small business owners provide flexible hours when personal situations arise, regardless of the firm’s size.” He further noted that “time off issues are currently worked out in thousands of small and mid-sized businesses in the state every day without state government intervention.”
Markowski also pointed out that “most small businesses do not have a Human Resource department or staff to manage the recordkeeping, paperwork or administrative requirements needed to comply.”
The bill requires employers to keep records of hours employees accumulate and utilize for paid sick leave, retaining them for three years.
The committee is set to convene on March 21, where it is expected the bill will be approved and forwarded to the Senate. Should the legislation be enacted it will go into effect on October 1, 2024.
