2023
Sick Leave Expanded for Eligible Service Workers
Effective October 1, 2023, Connecticut’s sick and safe leave law (sick leave) was expanded to add additional covered uses for eligible service workers to use paid sick leave for a mental health wellness day or if their child is the victim of family violence or sexual assault.
The state’s sick leave law covers employers with at least 50 employees in the state and covers services workers, who are employees primarily engaged in a job with certain standard occupational classification (SOC) codes by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and are either paid hourly or are nonexempt under the FLSA. To determine the employee count, all employees are counted, not just service workers.
Criminal History Discrimination Protections Expanded
Beginning on January 1, 2023, employers of all sizes were prohibited from discriminating against applicants and employees on the basis of their erased criminal history records. This closes the loophole in the current law, which in effect allows employers to discriminate against employees based on erased criminal history that occurs during employment.
Additionally, employers that ask about an applicant’s criminal history on an application will have to update their notice to indicate the following:
- The applicant is not required to disclose the existence of any erased criminal history record information,
- Erased criminal history record information are records pertaining to a finding of delinquency or that a child was a member of a family with service needs, an adjudication as a youthful offender, a criminal charge that has been dismissed or nolled (not prosecuted), a criminal charge the person has been found not guilty of or a conviction the person received an absolute pardon for, or criminal records that are erased pursuant to statute or by other operation of law, and
- Any person with erased criminal history record information is deemed to have never been arrested within the meaning of the law with respect to the erased criminal history and may swear under oath to that fact.
Note that under state law, employers are prohibited from asking about an applicant’s criminal history on an initial application unless they are required to do so by state or federal law, or if the position requires a security, fidelity, or other similar bond.
