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Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave (CT Paid Leave)

Connecticut Paid Leave provides income replacement benefits for eligible workers who need time away from work to care for a family member with a serious health condition, bond with a new child, serve as an organ or bone marrow donor, address qualifying military family needs, take safe leave, or manage their own serious health condition. The program is funded through employee payroll deductions; job protection comes from separate laws such as CT FMLA, federal FMLA, or Connecticut family violence leave.

Up to 12 weeks of income replacement benefits are available in a 12-month period for most leave reasons, with an additional 2 weeks potentially available for pregnancy-related incapacity and up to 12 days for safe leave. Benefit calculation: 95% of average weekly wage up to 40x CT minimum wage ($677.60 as of January 1, 2026), plus 60% of wages above that threshold, capped at 60x CT minimum wage ($1,016.40 per week as of January 1, 2026). Workers must have earned at least $2,325 from one or more covered Connecticut employers in the highest-earning quarter of the base period and be currently employed in Connecticut, or recently employed in Connecticut within the program window. CT Paid Leave itself does not provide job-protected time away from work; workers should separately request job-protected leave under CT FMLA, federal FMLA, or Connecticut family violence leave when applicable. Funded through employee payroll deductions of 0.5% of wages up to the Social Security wage base.

Eligibility

  • Care recipient must have a qualifying disability
  • Relationship: spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, other relative, non relative

Questions to ask the program

These are questions to ask the program, not a verdict on your eligibility. Confirm the current rules directly with the program.

  • Does the person receiving care live in Connecticut? — Residency is usually the first thing a program checks.
  • Does your relationship to the person — spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, other relative, or non relative — count for this program?
  • What counts as a qualifying disability or level of care need, and what documentation shows it?
  • Is there a caregiver-specific department, coordinator, or support line? Ask for it by name. — Many agencies have one that isn’t advertised on the website.
  • What documents do you need from us to start an application?
  • Is there a waitlist right now, and how long is it?

Services

Up to 12 weeks of income replacement benefits are available in a 12-month period for most leave reasons, with an additional 2 weeks potentially available for pregnancy-related incapacity and up to 12 days for safe leave. Benefit calculation: 95% of average weekly wage up to 40x CT minimum wage ($677.60 as of January 1, 2026), plus 60% of wages above that threshold, capped at 60x CT minimum wage ($1,016.40 per week as of January 1, 2026). Workers must have earned at least $2,325 from one or more covered Connecticut employers in the highest-earning quarter of the base period and be currently employed in Connecticut, or recently employed in Connecticut within the program window. CT Paid Leave itself does not provide job-protected time away from work; workers should separately request job-protected leave under CT FMLA, federal FMLA, or Connecticut family violence leave when applicable. Funded through employee payroll deductions of 0.5% of wages up to the Social Security wage base.

How to apply

  • The CT Paid Leave Authority takes applications for the public CT Paid Leave Program; CTDOL oversees CT Paid Leave appeals.

Use the official program page for application details: official program page.

  • fmla (companion): CT Paid Leave can run concurrently with FMLA leave