Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program replaces up to 95% of your wages, capped at $1,016.40 per week in 2026, for up to 12 weeks in a 12-month period. To qualify, you generally need to work for a covered Connecticut employer and have earned at least $2,325 in the highest quarter of your base period. There is no waiting period once your claim is approved.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility comes down to two things. You must be working for a covered Connecticut employer at the time you need leave, or have worked for one within the 12 weeks before your leave begins. And you must have earned at least $2,325 in the highest-earning quarter of your base period, which is the first four of the five most recently completed calendar quarters.1CT Paid Leave. Coverage and Eligibility That $2,325 floor is roughly what someone earning $9,300 a year would make in a single quarter.2Connecticut Paid Leave. Check Your Eligibility
The program reaches almost every private employer with at least one employee in Connecticut, a much wider net than the federal FMLA’s 50-employee threshold. Federal employees, some railway workers, municipal employees, and certain private school employees are not covered.3Connecticut Paid Leave. Coverage and Eligibility Self-employed workers and sole proprietors can participate only if they voluntarily enroll and meet the earnings threshold.
Reasons You Can Take Leave
- Your own serious health condition, including recovery and ongoing treatment, and serving as an organ or bone marrow donor.
- Caring for a family member who is being treated for or recovering from a serious health condition.
- Bonding with a new child after birth, adoption, or foster placement. You have 12 months from delivery or placement to use bonding leave.
- A qualifying exigency arising from a family member’s active military service.
- Safe leave for family violence or sexual assault, capped at 12 days rather than 12 weeks.2Connecticut Paid Leave. Check Your Eligibility
How Much You’ll Get
Your benefit is built from your average weekly wage. The CT Paid Leave Authority takes the two highest-earning quarters within your base period, adds them, and divides by 26. That figure, rounded down to the next whole dollar, is your average weekly wage.
From there, a two-tier formula kicks in, keyed to the state minimum wage:
- If your average weekly wage is at or below 40 times the minimum wage ($677.60 in 2026), your benefit is 95% of that wage.
- If your average weekly wage is higher, you get 95% of $677.60 plus 60% of every dollar above the threshold.
An example: two highest quarters totaling $20,800 give you an average weekly wage of $800. Because $800 is above the tier threshold, your benefit is 95% of $677.60 ($643.72) plus 60% of the remaining $122.40 ($73.44), for $717.16 a week.
No matter how much you earn, the benefit is capped at 60 times the state minimum wage. The minimum wage rose to $16.94 per hour on January 1, 2026, setting the maximum weekly benefit at $1,016.40, up from $981.00 in 2025.4Connecticut Paid Leave. Before You Apply5CT.gov. Governor Lamont Announces Minimum Wage Will Increase Reaching the cap requires an average weekly wage of about $1,242; anyone earning more still receives $1,016.40.
How Long You Can Be Out
Most qualifying reasons carry a 12-week entitlement within a 12-month period. Incapacity during pregnancy adds another 2 weeks, for a total of 14.6Connecticut Paid Leave. How CT Paid Leave Works Safe leave is limited to 12 days.
You can take leave intermittently, either in separate blocks or by reducing your weekly schedule. Only the actual hours away from work count against your entitlement, expressed as fractions of a workweek.7CT.gov. FMLA FAQs
When and How You Get Paid
There is no waiting period. Benefits can start from the first day of your approved leave.8CT Paid Leave. Frequently Asked Questions
Payments go out every Tuesday on a one-week delay, so a leave week running January 2 through January 7 would pay out the following Tuesday. You pick your payment method when you file: direct deposit or a stored value card. Paper checks are not offered.8CT Paid Leave. Frequently Asked Questions
How to Apply
Claims go through the CT Paid Leave online portal. You sign in with a CT.gov account, which routes you to the Aflac claims portal to enter your employment details, choose your leave reason, and set up your payment method.9Connecticut Paid Leave. How to Apply
After you submit, you’ll get a notification letter listing the supporting documents Aflac needs. Depending on your reason, that can mean a medical certification signed by your provider, proof of a new child’s birth or placement, or documents tied to military service. Upload them promptly. If Aflac does not receive the required forms by the deadline in your letter, the claim will be denied.10CT Paid Leave Authority. The User Guide
Job Protection Is a Separate Question
CT Paid Leave pays your benefit. It does not, on its own, guarantee you a job to return to. Job protection comes from the Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act (CT FMLA), which applies to most employers with one or more employees and gives you the right to return to your position or an equivalent one. You apply to the CT Paid Leave Authority for the money and to your employer for the job-protected leave under CT FMLA.11Connecticut Paid Leave. For Businesses and Employers
If your employer is also covered by the federal FMLA (50 or more employees), your state and federal leave generally run concurrently. Federal FMLA is unpaid; CT Paid Leave is where the income comes from.
Stacking Employer Benefits on Top
You can supplement your CT Paid Leave benefit with employer-provided PTO, sick time, vacation, or group disability, as long as the combined total does not exceed 100% of your regular wages.8CT Paid Leave. Frequently Asked Questions If your weekly benefit is $900 and you normally earn $1,500, your employer can let you draw up to $600 from your PTO bank to close the gap. Your employer cannot force you to use PTO instead of filing a CT Paid Leave claim.
Taxes on Your Benefits
CT Paid Leave benefits are federal gross income. The IRS treats state-run paid family leave benefits as government payments reported on Form 1099-G, like unemployment compensation.12Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-G You’ll get the 1099-G after year-end.
The CT Paid Leave Authority does not automatically withhold federal or state tax, so set money aside or request voluntary withholding if you want to avoid a bill at filing time. Your payroll contributions come out of after-tax dollars and are not deductible.
What Comes Out of Your Paycheck
The program is funded by employee payroll deductions. For 2026, the maximum contribution is 0.5% of your taxable wages up to an annual cap of $184,500. On a $60,000 salary that’s about $300 a year, roughly $5.77 per weekly paycheck. Wages above $184,500 are not subject to the deduction.