New Year Brings Minimum Wage Hike, Paid Sick Leave Expansion

A 4.2% increase in the minimum wage and the first stage in a three-part expansion of the state’s paid sick leave mandate mark the beginning of the New Year in Connecticut.

Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage increases from $15.69 to $16.35 on Jan. 1, 2025, while employers with 25 or more employees must provide paid sick leave.

Current state law requires that employers with 50 or more employees provide paid sick leave to non-exempt “service workers.”

Based on changes approved during the 2024 legislative session, coverage expands to virtually all private employers—and essentially all employees—based on the following schedule:

• For employers with 25 or more employees, changes take effect Jan. 1, 2025
• For employers with 11 or more employees, changes take effect Jan. 1, 2026
• For employers with at least one employee, changes take effect Jan. 1, 2027

Paid Sick Leave Expansion

Employees earn one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours annually, and unused time can carry over—unless the employer front loads the time—although the annual cap remains at 40 hours.

The changes also allow employees to take leave for defined reasons involving family members, with employers no longer be able to require notice or require an employee to find coverage.

Leave can be taken for a variety of new reasons, including for public health emergencies, mental health days, or family violence and sexual assault issues.

Employers that already provide paid leave under the same or better terms and conditions will be considered compliant.

Employers that already provide paid leave under the same or better terms and conditions will be considered compliant with the expanded mandate.

The changes have sparked numerous questions, with the state Department of Labor posting two sets of responses online to frequently asked questions.

The labor department’s website also includes a range of employer resources, including guidance and workplace posting requirements.

Minimum Wage

A state law enacted in 2019 implemented five annual increases in the hourly wage and tied future yearly increases to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Cost Index.

The last of those five statutory increases took effect June 1, 2023, when the hourly wage hit $15.

Future increases are calculated based on the change in the ECI “over the 12-month period ending June 30 of the preceding year, rounded to the nearest whole cent.”

Connecticut’s minimum wage is the fifth highest in the U.S.

The first of those indexed increases took effect Jan. 1 this year, with the minimum wage rising 4.6% to $15.69.

Connecticut employers are legally obligated to pay employees the new hourly wage of $16.35 on and after Jan. 1, 2025.

The minimum wage will remain the fifth highest in the U.S. after the District of Columbia ($17.50), Washington state ($16.66), California ($16.50), and New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties ($16.50).