The 2025 Regular Session of the Connecticut General Assembly, which concluded on June 4, 2025, was not especially prolific in terms of the volume of labor-and employment-related bills passed. While many far-reaching bills that emerged from committee were not passed by the legislature (e.g., efforts to broadly restrict the use of covenants not to compete for all Connecticut employers, ban non-disclosure agreements, and create workplace standards to prevent heat-related illnesses), the General Assembly did pass a change in the paid sick leave law that may affect public sector employers and employees, along with changes to the state’s municipal employees retirement system.
The following are brief descriptions of some of these employment-related bills. Please note: We will provide you with further/updated information with respect to these and other bills, including whether any of these bills have been vetoed by the Governor, in a subsequent blog post.
PAID SICK LEAVE REVISION FOR CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTITIES/EMPLOYEES
In 2024, Public Act 24-8 significantly expanded the reach of (and employee rights under) Connecticut’s Paid Sick Leave law. There was much concern expressed about the applicability and suitability of this law in the public sector, especially with respect to school employees and first responders (in light of the weakening of often collectively bargained notice and medical certification provisions, not to mention the expanded use of leave for, among other things, “mental health wellness days”).
While serving to confirm that this law does in fact apply to the public sector, the General Assembly did provide a minor bit of relief. Buried in the last-minute bonding bill (H.B. 7288: An Act Authorizing And Adjusting Bonds Of The State And Concerning Grant Programs, State Grant Commitments For School Building Projects, Revisions To The School Building Projects Statutes And Various Provisions Revising And Implementing The Budget For The Biennium Ending June 30, 2027) was a provision that allows certain specified public-sector employers to require that certain employees use their paid sick leave available under the recently expanded Connecticut Paid Sick Leave law in the increments set forth in any applicable collective bargaining agreement (as opposed to one-hour increments), so long as such employers:
- give their employees paid sick leave, or any other paid leave or combination of other paid leave, that accrues at a rate greater than one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked and
- do not prohibit the employees from using up to 40 hours of accrued leave per year.
The bill permits 1) local or regional boards of education to apply this for their “school employees,” and 2) municipal employers to do this for their police officers, firefighters, and public works department employees.
Generally, under these paid sick leave provisions:
- “school employees” are 1) teachers, substitute teachers, school administrators, school superintendents, guidance counselors, school counselors, psychologists, social workers, nurses, physicians, paraeducators, and coaches, and 2) anyone else who, in the performance of their duties, has regular contact with students and who provides services to or on behalf of enrolled students under a contract with the local or regional board of education;
- a “municipal employer” is any 1) political subdivision of the state, including any town, city, borough, district, district department of health, school board, housing authority, or other authority established by law, or 2) private nonprofit corporation with a valid contract with any town, city, borough, or district to extinguish fires and provide fire protection; and
- a “public works department” is a municipal department responsible for the construction, regulation, or maintenance of all things in the nature of public works and improvements.
PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE (AND CTFMLA) AND SCHOOL EMPLOYEES
While slightly narrowing certain public sector employee rights under the Paid Sick Leave law, the General Assembly used the same last minute bonding bill (H.B. 7288) as a vehicle to expand rights for public and private sector school non-certified school employees with respect to the Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (and Connecticut’s regular Family and Medical Leave Act), effective on October 1, 2025. Specifically, Sections 234-237 of H.B. 7277 expand eligibility for benefits under the Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program to employees, 1) of a local or regional board of education, any other “public school operator” (including charter and magnet schools), or a nonpublic elementary or secondary school, 2) who do not hold professional certification. Prior to this revision, all employees of such entities were generally exempt from the Program. The bill establishes an alternative method of calculating the base period and base weekly earnings for such non-certified school employees.
The bill also extends coverage under the Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act to any such non-certified school employee who has been employed by such school employer for at least three months during the twelve-month period before leave is requested. Prior to this revision, all school employees were exempt from the Act, but rather were subject to coverage only under the federal FMLA. This bill makes such schools covered employers under the Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act with respect to these eligible/covered employees. In the context of the expansion of CTFMLA coverage, the bill removes a provision of the law that made non-certified employees of local and regional boards of education eligible for leave under the federal FMLA if they had been employed for at least twelve months by such employer and for at least 950 hours of service with such employer during the previous twelve-month period (as opposed to the usual 1,250 hours required for federal FMLA eligibility).
What does this mean/why is this expansion of the CTFMLA important for schools? The CTFMLA has broader provisions in terms of eligibility and reasons for leave, and non-certified school employees will now be entitled to these benefits. Schools will have to revise their FMLA policies to address the differences in treatment between certified employees under the federal FMLA and non-certified employees under the CTFMLA. In addition, on October 1, 2025, school employers will have to start to deduct .5% from non-certified employees’ wages and otherwise comply with the Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program.
MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM
H.B. 7278 creates a new tier in the Connecticut Municipal Employees Retirement System (CMERS), to be called MERS 2.0. The bill requires CMERS-participating municipalities to enroll in MERS 2.0 any person who first becomes eligible for CMERS membership on or after July 1, 2027. If the person’s position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement that was in effect on July 1, 2027, the municipality must enroll the person when the agreement expires. It allows any nonparticipating municipality to enroll in MERS 2.0 on the later of July 1, 2026, or the expiration date of an applicable collective bargaining agreement that was in effect on July 1, 2026.
MERS 2.0 members must contribute 1) 5% of their regular pay (for regular employees) or 2) 8% of their regular pay (for public safety employees). MERS 2.0 members are eligible for retirement benefits if they complete five years of continuous service or 15 years of active aggregate service in a participating municipality. MERS 2.0 also contains an early retirement provision. The bill sets forth the calculation for the monthly retirement allowance under MERS 2.0.
The bill also requires the Connecticut Municipal Employees Retirement Commission (CMERC), by July 1, 2026, to create and administer a MERS defined contribution retirement plan. It requires a) all CMERS members to contribute 0.25% of their pay to the plan and b) MERS 2.0 members to contribute an additional 5% of their “other pay” (for regular employers) or 8% of their “other pay” (for public safety employees). “Other pay” includes overtime pay, bonuses, and any other employee compensation other than regular pay. The bill requires CMERS-participating municipalities to make matching contributions for their MERS 2.0 members (as per the contributions above).
The bill permits CMERC to set up and implement an annuity plan as an alternative to CMERS for nonparticipating municipalities. The plan (if established) shall provide that municipalities participating in the annuity plan shall have the option of transferring their defined contribution assets into this plan. The State Comptroller will serve as the administrator of this annuity plan.
STATE EMPLOYEE RETIREE LIFE INSURANCE
Section 186 of the same bonding bill (H.B. 7288) changes the service criteria used to determine a retired state employee’s eligibility for certain life insurance benefits. It will use 25 minimum years of “credited state service” as the eligibility criterion (i.e., service for which the employee was eligible to participate in a state sponsored retirement plan) instead of just “state service.” This revision will apply to those retiring on or after July 1, 2025.
There were additional bills affecting employers passed by the Legislature in its 2025 Regular Session. We will post a summary of those in the next few days.
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