Quick Hits
- As of January 1, 2026, Connecticut employers with eleven or more employees must provide paid sick leave to all nonseasonal workers, with full expansion to employers of any size expected by January 1, 2027.
- Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave maximum weekly benefit rose to $1,016.40 in 2026 while the employee contribution rate remains unchanged at 0.5 percent of wages.
- Connecticut employers may want to audit exempt employee classifications in light of the state’s $16.94 minimum wage, as the narrow gap with the federal FLSA salary threshold may create wage-and-hour exposure for employees who do not qualify for a Connecticut white-collar or outside sales exemption.
Expanded Coverage Under Connecticut Paid Sick Leave
As of January 1, 2026, employers with eleven or more employees in Connecticut are required to provide paid sick leave for qualifying reasons to all employees in the state, excluding seasonal workers. The phased expansion continues, and by January 1, 2027, employers with just one or more employees in the state will be covered. The employee count threshold is determined by the company’s payroll for the week containing January 1, but guidance provided by the Connecticut Department of Labor confirms that it counts only employees in the state of Connecticut.
Employers newly “inducted” under the law may want to confirm that accrual, carryover, usage, and notice provisions are reflected in handbooks and payroll systems. For multistate employers, this may require revisiting existing policies to ensure Connecticut-specific compliance.
Higher Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits
Benefits under the Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave program increased for 2026 based on updated wage calculations. The total maximum weekly benefit is now sixty times the minimum wage. This means that the maximum weekly benefit increases to $1,016.40 (from $981) as of January 1, 2026.
Significantly, the employee contribution rate remains unchanged at 0.5 percent of wages. While payroll deductions stay the same, employers may see increased utilization given the enhanced benefit levels.
The Exemption ‘Trap’: Minimum Wage vs. Salary Threshold
Connecticut continues to present wage-and-hour challenges. The state’s minimum wage increased to $16.94 per hour on January 1, 2026. At the same time, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) salary threshold for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions remains $684 per week.
Here is where the math matters:
- $684 per week ÷ 40 hours = $17.10 per hour equivalent
- Connecticut minimum wage = $16.94 per hour
That narrow margin may raise questions worth examining, but the analysis is not as straightforward as it might first appear. Connecticut law defines certain exemption categories, including executive, administrative, and professional (i.e., “white-collar”) and outside sales exemptions, by excluding those employees from the statutory definition of “employee” for purposes of the state’s wage-and-hour laws. As a result, employees who properly qualify for one of those white-collar exemptions under Connecticut law are not subject to the state’s minimum wage or overtime requirements in the first place, and the math above would not create minimum wage exposure for those workers.
The picture may be different for other types of exemptions that do not carry the same blanket exclusion from Connecticut’s wage-and-hour statutes. For employees exempt from overtime under the FLSA but not falling within one of Connecticut’s white-collar or outside sales exclusions, the gap between the federal salary threshold and the state minimum wage could become meaningful. An employee in that situation who works additional hours could see an effective regular rate that drops below $16.94, potentially creating state minimum wage exposure.
Connecticut’s exemption framework can be complex, and the interplay between state and federal classifications is not always intuitive. Federal exempt status does not automatically resolve state-law wage-and-hour obligations for every exemption category.
As part of any spring compliance audit, employers may want to revisit exempt classifications, salary levels, and timekeeping practices, i.e.,paying particular attention to which specific exemption applies under Connecticut law and whether it carries the same scope of exclusion as the white-collar exemptions. In Connecticut, these distinctions can quickly become significant wage-and-hour problems.
Ogletree Deakins’ Stamford office will continue to monitor developments and will post updates on the Connecticut, Leaves of Absence, and Wage and Hour blogs as additional information becomes available. Further information can be found in the Ogletree Deakins Client Portal, including minimum wage and minimum wage tip credit law summaries. (Full law summaries are available for Premium-level subscribers; Snapshots and Updates are available for all registered client-users.) For more information on the Client Portal or a Client Portal subscription, please reach out to clientportal@ogletree.com.
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