On July 1, 2022, Connecticut employers were required to provide their employees with notice of their right to Paid Family Medical Leave. The Paid Family Medical Leave Act program was introduced into law in 2019. As its title states, it provides Connecticut employees with paid leave for qualified absences from work. Employees, sole proprietors, and self-employed individuals started contributing to the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority Trust Fund in 2021. These mandatory contributions are, in essence, a form of payroll tax collected by employers and transmitted to the state. Benefits payments first became available to employees in January of this year.

An employee taking qualified leave applies to the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority for benefit payments. Those payments are computed based upon the applicant’s regular wages and the Connecticut minimum wage up to a maximum amount of $840 weekly, as of July, 2022. However, a glitch has emerged in the system that has shown the Paid Family Medical Leave Act to be a taxpayer-funded subsidy program for disability insurers.