Massachusetts and Connecticut to Expand Paid Sick Leave Benefits for Employees
Massachusetts
Starting November 21, 2024, all Massachusetts employers covered by the state’s Earned Sick Time Law will be required to allow employees to use sick time for certain reproductive losses. This change comes as part of the broader “Act Promoting Access to Midwifery Care and Out-of-Hospital Birth Options,” and the law states that an employee may use earned sick time to “address the employee’s own physical and mental health needs, and those of their spouse, if the employee or the employee’s spouse experiences pregnancy loss or a failed assisted reproduction, adoption or surrogacy.”
Employers should update company policies to ensure that their employees are aware of the law’s expanded coverage requirements and train HR professionals and management to ensure they know how to respond to these requests.
Connecticut
Effective January 1, 2025, Connecticut will drastically expand the scope of businesses and workers covered by the state’s paid sick leave law (see our Client Alert from May 2024). By way of reminder, the law will now apply to employers with 25 or more employees in Connecticut (rather than the current 50-employee threshold). Starting in 2026, the law will apply to employers with 11 or more Connecticut employees, and by 2027, virtually all Connecticut employers/employees will be covered by the law.
To comply with the law, employers must display posters about paid sick leave in English and Spanish and must also provide written notice to each employee by January 1, 2025, and to all new hires thereafter.
Contact your Bowditch Employment Lawyer if you have any questions.
Categorized: Employee Benefits, Paid Leave
Tagged In: employee leave benefits, paid sick leave, pregnancy loss, reproductive losses
