Policy Resource
Connecticut Is First State to Mandate Paid Sick Leave
In June 2011, Connecticut became the first state to pass paid sick leave legislation.

The law, which went into effect on January 1, 2012, requires businesses with 50 or more employees to provide certain workers with one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. To accrue the benefit, employees must be classified as service workers and have worked at least ten hours per week during the previous quarter. Leave can be taken if the worker is ill or injured, or for the worker to care for a sick child or spouse. Employers who already offered at least five days of paid time off a year were not affected by the new law. Manufacturers and some nonprofit organizations are also exempt.
As of July 2020, Arizona, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, many cities, some counties, and Washington, DC have joined Connecticut in enacting paid sick leave legislation. See a list of paid sick leave legislation here.
Revised July 2020
Read more about:
You might also be interested in
-
Video
Building Strong Foundations for Families Project: Impacts and Lessons Learned
Building Strong Foundations for Families (BSFF), a state technical assistance project conducted from 2020 - 2022, was designed to assist selected states in building and strengthening comprehensive po…
-
Resource
In October 2021, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and ZERO TO THREE convened a group of state leaders and national experts to discuss strategies to promote the economic security of famili…
-
Article
Maryland Passes Paid Family and Medical Leave and Celebrates Other Significant Wins
Last weekend, Maryland legislators overrode the Governor’s veto to pass the state’s Time to Care Act of 2022.
Explore More Connecticut Focused Resources & Initiatives
-
Article
Addressing Bias and Advancing Equity in State Policy – Connecticut
Ensuring an equitable start for all babies requires understanding the influence of race, ethnicity, and racism in the lives of babies and families. As a result of the longstanding history of systemic…
-
Article
Hurting the Families that Need it Most – Connecticut
It’s Time to Remove Child Support Enforcement from State Child Care Subsidy Programs.
-
Article
Connecticut Uses Strategic Investments to Boost Family Child Care
The state’s recipe for ensuring that family child care providers are receiving individualized supports at every stage of their careers is helping to stabilize the field and meet the needs of children…
-
Article
Connecticut Baby Bonds Aim to Tackle Poverty and Advance Racial Equity
Connecticut recently became the first state in the nation to create trusts, “Baby Bonds”, for children born in the state who live in families with low income.
-
Article
States Move Forward on Paid Family and Medical Leave
Three more states have taken steps toward ensuring that families have adequate, unhurried time to create positive, consistent relationships with their babies. Time with infants during their earliest …