When the CT Paid Leave Act was first passed in 2019, no employees at any public-school operator or non-public elementary or secondary school were covered by the program. In October 2025, a legislative change resulted in employees working in positions that do not require certification for their position to become covered. In public school settings, which include those working in positions such as custodians, food service workers, paraprofessionals, and others. Those working in positions requiring certification – primarily teachers and administrators – remain not covered unless their unionized members collectively bargain to opt-in. In non-public elementary and secondary school settings, generally no positions are required to be certified, though if a non-public elementary or secondary school has a policy that they will only hire individuals with certification for specific positions the same rule would apply as it does with public school operators.

This change has resulted in substantially more workers in our state having access to the CT Paid Leave program. There are, however, some policies that are important to be aware of for all workers, but especially for school workers, who may not be scheduled to work during the summer months. CT Paid Leave benefits are payable only for days that a worker would have been scheduled to work if they had not been experiencing the situation qualifying them for the leave. This means that a covered worker will not be paid CT Paid Leave benefits for dates their employer is closed for a holiday shutdown and, thus, they would not have been scheduled to work. Whether or not the worker will be paid by the school during the holiday/shutdown will not impact the paid leave benefit.

For example, if a food service worker is not scheduled to work during the school’s summer vacation, they may not receive paid leave benefits for a leave during this time because they would not have been scheduled to work regardless. However, if a custodian is scheduled to work during the summer vacation because the school is still being used for other activities and still needs the custodial work to be done, that employee could receive benefits for a leave during the summer because they would have been scheduled to work were it not for their leave reason. These same rules apply for FMLA usage – if an employee would not have been scheduled to work, the time used can not be counted against their FMLA entitlement.

Additional examples can be found at ctpaidleave.org on the For Businesses and Employers page.

Jessica Vargas, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at CT Paid Leave, wrote this article.