Employers Face July 1 Deadline for FMLA Rights Notice

Effective July 1, 2022, employers subject to Connecticut’s Family and Medical Leave Act must provide written notice of the act’s provisions to each of their employees. 

The new statute, CGS 31-49q, requires employers provide the notice to employees both (1) at the time of hire; and (2) annually thereafter. 

The Connecticut Department of Labor’s proposed regulations specify that if an employer has an employee handbook or other written guidance concerning employee benefits or leave rights, it must include an FMLA notice or policy in those materials. 

For those employers that do not have handbooks, the FMLA notice must be distributed individually to each employee, whether on paper or electronically.    

Employers must provide notice of the following:

1. The entitlement to family and medical leave and leave for victims of family violence, and the terms under which such leave may be used
2. The opportunity to file a claim for compensation
3. That retaliation by the employer against the employee for requesting, applying for, or using family and medical leave is prohibited
4. That the employee has a right to file a labor department complaint for violations of the act. 

The labor department has prepared a sample policy that employers may use to satisfy this requirement.  

Note that, while employers may choose to post this notice as well, simply posting the written policy—in the lunchroom, for example—does not satisfy the legal requirement to distribute the policy directly to employees.