First, remember that to be eligible for paid leave benefits, you must have had minimum earnings of $2,325 in the highest earning quarter of the first four of the five most recently completed quarters. Additionally, you must either be currently employed by a covered employer or have been employed by a covered employer in the 12 weeks immediately preceding the leave or must be a sole proprietor who has opted into the program. The number of weeks you have available are not calculated on a calendar basis but rather a rolling basis.  

CT Paid Leave uses the “rolling” or “look back method” for calculating the 12-month period. With this method, each time an employee receives benefits, the remaining benefit entitlement is the balance of the 12 weeks that has not been used during the immediately preceding 12 months. Let’s look at an example. Lee requests two weeks of CT Paid Leave benefits to begin on February 1, 2025. The Authority looks back 12 months (from Feb.1, 2025 back to Feb. 2, 2024) and sees that Lee had received one week of benefits beginning March 1, 2023, seven weeks beginning May 15, 2023, and three weeks beginning November 1, 2023. Thus, Lee has received 11 weeks of benefits in the 12-month period and only has one week of benefits available. After Lee takes the one week in February 2025, they can next receive one week of benefits as soon as the week of March 1, 2025 and will be able to receive additional days in May as the days of their previous usage “roll off” the claim year (assuming they have a qualifying reason and meet the eligibility requirements). In the event a worker experiences a serious health condition resulting in incapacitation that occurs during a pregnancy, they may qualify for an additional two (2) weeks of benefits from CT Paid Leave. 

Those who received CT Paid Leave benefits in 2024 will receive a Form 1099-G. This form will be delivered to their mailing address and will also be available on the CT Paid Leave portal. To ensure timely delivery, if you received CT Paid Leave benefits in 2024, please confirm that your mailing address is correct in the online portal.  

This article was written by Jessica Vargas, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at CT Paid Leave.