HR Hotline: Does the Paid Sick Leave Law Have Carry Over Limits?

Q: My company employs 25 workers, so I understand that we’ll be subject to Connecticut’s new paid sick leave law beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

I’ve read that we must provide at least 40 hours of paid sick time to our employees, and that they are entitled to carry over 40 hours from one year to the next. Does this mean that employees who don’t use their sick time in one year will be entitled to use 80 hours of sick leave the following year?

A: No, the hours are capped at 40 per year. 

Connecticut’s revised paid sick leave law, effective Jan. 1, 2025 for those employers with 25 or more employees, provides for 40 hours of paid time off for most employees in the state. 

Workers accrue this time off at the rate of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year. 

For those employees who don’t use their accrued paid sick hours, the law allows them to carry over up to 40 unused hours from the current year to the next. 

However, even with this carry over, the maximum number of hours that an employee can use in a year remains at 40, unless an employer chooses to be more generous than what the law requires. 

Scenarios

This concept is illustrated in the following three examples.

Example 1: Employee works 40 hours per week. They start accruing paid sick hours on Jan. 1, 2025. By the end of July, they have accrued 40 hours of paid sick time.

In November, the employee contracts COVID and is out sick for one full week, and is paid for that time.  They have no further paid sick time available that year, and nothing to carry over to the following year. 

On Jan. 1, 2026, they will begin accruing again at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked.

Example 2: Employee works 40 hours per week, starts accruing paid sick hours on Jan. 1, 2025, and accrues 40 hours by the end of July. 

They take one full day—eight hours—of paid sick time in September to take their child to the pediatrician and to care for them at home.

The maximum number of hours that an employee can use in a year remains at 40, unless an employer exceeds what the law requires. 

They use no further sick time that year and thus carry over 32 hours of accrued, unused time into 2026. 

On Jan. 1, 2026, they have 32 hours immediately available, and begins accruing one hour for every 30 hours worked.

By mid-February, they have accrued an additional eight hours and reached the 40-hour cap. They will accrue no more paid sick hours that calendar year.    

Example 3: Employee has 40 hours of paid sick leave available on Jan. 1, 2025 because the employer decided to front load the time, which is permissible but not required by law.

They use none of the time in 2025. On Jan. 1, 2026, they have 40 hours available for the calendar year 2026.

This is because, whether they carry it over from the year before, or accept front loaded time, they cannot exceed the yearly maximum of 40 hours unless the employer exceeds what the law requires. 

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HR problems or issues? Email or call CBIA’s Diane Mokriski at the HR Hotline (860.244.1900) | @HRHotline. The HR Hotline is a free service for CBIA member companies and is intended to provide general information and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult with legal professionals for specific guidance for your specific situation.