The law took effect January 1, 2012, mandating that employers with 50 or more employees provide 40 hours of paid sick leave to hourly service workers each calendar year. Most employers are aware of the new mandate and those covered under the law should have already made revisions to their policies and practices to ensure compliance. GBAC offer a full line of HR Consulting to help with confusing situations, please be sure to check out our full line of services here.

Since its passage, the Connecticut Department of Labor has issued guidance that goes a little beyond the black-and-white of what's in the law. You can read the law and guidance here.

Some of the more interesting points addressed in the CT-DOL's recent guidance and by Heidi Lane, Principal Attorney, Office of Program Policy at CT-DOL, include:

• Carry Over – The law provides that service workers should be entitled to carryover up to 40 hours of unused accrued paid sick leave at the end of each calendar year. However, the CT-DOL takes the position that if an employer makes five sick or PTO days available to the employee at the start of the calendar year, the employer has satisfied the carryover obligation. This means that an employer may front-load the paid time off, making it immediately available for an employee's use on Jan. 1st of each year, and not have to worry about or allow carryover from year to year.
• Accrual – The law provides that sick time accrues at a rate of 1 hour for every 40 hours worked. Covered employers must have an accrual rate at least as fast as this. The CT-DOL takes the position that anything that could be slower, such as accrual on a monthly basis, will be treated as a violation of the law.
• Rate for Tipped Workers – The CT-DOL has clarified that covered restaurants who employ waiters who are paid an hourly rate below minimum wage but receive tips should be paid the minimum wage for paid sick leave time.
• Break in Service – The law provides that upon separation from employment, the service worker does not lose any of the hours worked toward the 680 hours employment requirement, but does lose any unused, accrued paid sick hours. The CT-DOL explains that it treats seasonal employees as part-time workers – meaning that generally that time away from work is not a "separation" and not a "break in service." The Department uses the example of a bus driver who has the summer off – the summer period is not a "break in service," therefore the driver retains the unused, accrued paid sick hours.
• Poster – The law requires employers subject to the provisions of the act to provide appropriate notice to service workers; the notice can be satisfied by using the CT-DOL's model poster. The CT-DOL clarifies that employers who have fewer than 50 employees (fewer than 50 in all quarters in the previous calendar year based on QER's filed with the DOL), who do not have to provide paid sick leave under the law, do not have to post the poster. GBAC can provide you with the correct posters for your business.

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