FMLA in Connecticut: Federal Rules, State Leave Laws, and an Eligibility Calculator (2026)

How does FMLA work in Connecticut?

The federal FMLA applies in Connecticut exactly as it does everywhere: up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for employees with 12 months of service, 1,250 hours worked in the prior 12 months, and 50 or more employees within 75 miles of their worksite, at a private employer with 50 or more employees or any public agency or school. Connecticut adds Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act (CT FMLA), which covers employers with 1 or more employees (since January 1, 2022) and gives 12 weeks in a 12-month period, plus 2 weeks for a serious health condition causing incapacity during pregnancy. CT Paid Leave pays a benefit during the leave, paid sick leave is mandated by the Paid Sick Leave Law (expanded 2025), and there is no bereavement leave mandate. Where the state statute and the FMLA both apply they run at the same time. Checked September 15, 2026.

Does the federal FMLA apply in Connecticut?

Yes, and identically to every other state. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives an eligible employee up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for a serious health condition, a new child, care for a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition, or a military exigency, and up to 26 weeks to care for a seriously injured servicemember. To be eligible you need 12 months of service with the employer, 1,250 hours actually worked in the 12 months before the leave, and a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Private employers are covered at 50 or more employees on the payroll in 20 or more workweeks; public agencies and schools are covered at any size.

The three employee tests are measured on the day the leave starts, and the third one is the one that surprises people in Connecticut: a covered employer with a small branch has a worksite where nobody is eligible if fewer than 50 employees work at that branch and at other sites within 75 road miles. Hours actually worked in the prior 12 months decide the 1,250-hour test; paid time off and holidays do not count. The calculator on this page runs all three tests and, when one fails, names the date or the hours that would satisfy it.

What Connecticut leave laws add to the FMLA

One state statute sits on top of the FMLA in Connecticut. Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act (CT FMLA) (Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-51kk to 31-51qq) applies to employers with 1 or more employees (since January 1, 2022) and gives 12 weeks in a 12-month period, plus 2 weeks for a serious health condition causing incapacity during pregnancy for own serious health condition, bonding, care for a covered family member, military exigency, organ or bone marrow donation. Eligibility: 3 months of employment with the current employer; no minimum hours. It widens the family circle beyond the FMLA's spouse, parent, and minor child to include spouse, sibling, child, grandparent, grandchild, parent, and any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association is the equivalent of family. Runs concurrently with the federal FMLA where both apply, but reaches far more people: a 10-person employer, a 4-month employee, or a part-timer on 20 hours is covered by CT FMLA and not by the federal law.

Is FMLA leave paid in Connecticut?

The FMLA itself pays nothing. Whether the 12 weeks are paid depends on the state program, any disability insurance, and the employer's own paid leave, which may be substituted for the unpaid leave under 29 CFR 825.207. Connecticut runs CT Paid Leave: benefits since January 2022. Up to 12 weeks, plus 2 for pregnancy incapacity. It covers the employee's own serious health condition as well as bonding and family care, so there is no separate disability program. CT Paid Leave pays money only; the job protection for the same weeks comes from CT FMLA, which is why the two were redesigned together in 2022 to share the 12-week entitlement and the 3-month eligibility rule.

While the state benefit is paid the leave is not unpaid, so an employer may not require PTO to run at the same time; several programs let the employee top up to full pay with PTO if the employer agrees. Paid sick leave is mandated statewide by the Paid Sick Leave Law (expanded 2025), accruing at 1 hour per 30 hours worked up to 40 hours/year; expansion phases in coverage for nearly all employers through 2027. Those hours can be substituted for unpaid FMLA leave. The Connecticut paid leave calculator linked below estimates the weekly benefit under the current formula and cap.

Bereavement, sick leave, and the smaller Connecticut statutes

Bereavement: Connecticut has no statewide bereavement leave mandate for private employers, and the federal FMLA does not cover bereavement either, so time off after a death comes from the employer's policy or from paid sick or PTO balances where the policy allows it.

The smaller statutes a multi-state employer has to carry in Connecticut, one line each.

How the 12-month period and the calculator work in Connecticut

The federal entitlement in Connecticut is 12 workweeks in the 12-month period the employer has chosen: calendar year, a fixed leave year, 12 months forward from first use, or a rolling 12 months measured backward from each day of leave. The method must be applied to everyone, disclosed in the rights and responsibilities notice, and changed only on 60 days' written notice. Under the rolling method every hour returns 12 months after the day it was taken; under the other three the full entitlement returns on one date. Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act (CT FMLA) runs on its own clock (12 weeks in a 12-month period, plus 2 weeks for a serious health condition causing incapacity during pregnancy), which is not necessarily the employer's federal 12-month method, so Connecticut employers keep two balances for an employee who qualifies under both, and the calculator below tracks the federal one.

The calculator on this page is preset to Connecticut. Run the eligibility panel as of the leave start date, convert the schedule into hours (480 for a 40-hour week), then enter the leave taken and the employer's method to see the hours available today, the hours available on a future date, and, under the rolling method, the dates on which used hours come back.

Sources and last check

This page was checked on September 15, 2026 against Connecticut Department of Labor, CT FMLA; CT Paid Leave Authority (ctpaidleave.org); Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-51kk ff., 31-57r ff. The federal rules are 29 U.S.C. 2601 ff. and 29 CFR Part 825. State thresholds and programs change, most often on January 1; the paid leave figures on the linked calculator carry their own effective dates.