Sec. 5-248a. Family and medical leave from employment.
Sec. 5-248a. Family and medical leave from employment. (a) For purposes of
this section, "child" means a biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild, child of whom
a person has legal guardianship or custody, or, in the alternative, a child of a person
standing in loco parentis, who is (1) under eighteen years of age, or (2) eighteen years
of age or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability.
Each permanent employee, as defined in subdivision (20) of section 5-196, shall be
entitled to a family leave of absence upon the birth or adoption of a child of such employee, or upon the serious illness of a child, spouse or parent of such employee; and a
medical leave of absence upon the serious illness of such employee or in order for such
employee to serve as an organ or bone marrow donor. The total amount of time that an
employee is entitled to for leaves of absence pursuant to this section shall be twenty-four weeks within any two-year period. Any such leave of absence shall be without pay.
Upon the expiration of any such leave of absence, the employee shall be entitled (A) to
return to the employee's original job from which the leave of absence was provided or,
if not available, to an equivalent position with equivalent pay, except that in the case
of a medical leave, if the employee is medically unable to perform the employee's
original job upon the expiration of such leave, the Personnel Division of the Department
of Administrative Services shall endeavor to find other suitable work for such employee
in state service, and (B) to all accumulated seniority, retirement, fringe benefit and other
service credits the employee had at the commencement of such leave. Such service
credits shall not accrue during the period of the leave of absence.
(b) The leave of absence benefits granted by this section shall be in addition to any
other paid leave benefits and benefits provided under subdivision (7) of subsection (a)
of section 46a-60 which are otherwise available to the employee.
(c) Any permanent employee who requests a medical leave of absence due to the
employee's serious illness or a family leave of absence due to the serious illness of a
child, spouse or parent pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be required by the
employee's appointing authority, prior to the inception of such leave, to provide sufficient written certification from the physician of such employee, child, spouse or parent
of the nature of such illness and its probable duration. For the purposes of this section,
"serious illness" means an illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition
that involves (1) inpatient care in a hospital, hospice or residential care facility, or (2)
continuing treatment or continuing supervision by a health care provider.
(d) Any permanent employee who requests a medical leave of absence in order to
serve as an organ or bone marrow donor pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall
be required by the employee's appointing authority, prior to the inception of such leave,
to provide sufficient written certification from the physician of such employee of the
proposed organ or bone marrow donation and the probable duration of the employee's
recovery period from such donation.
(e) Any permanent employee who requests a family leave of absence pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section shall submit to the employee's appointing authority, prior
to the inception of such leave, a signed statement of the employee's intent to return to
the employee's position in state service upon the termination of such leave.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of section 38a-554, the state
shall pay for the continuation of health insurance benefits for the employee during any
leave of absence taken pursuant to this section. In order to continue any other health
insurance coverages during such leave, the employee shall contribute that portion of
the premium the employee would have been required to contribute had the employee
remained an active employee during the leave period.
(P.A. 87-291, S. 1, 3; P.A. 96-140, S. 8, 10; 96-168, S. 24, 34; P.A. 04-95, S. 1; P.A. 06-102, S. 1; 06-196, S. 34.)
History: P.A. 87-291, S. 1 effective July 1, 1988; P.A. 96-140 deleted Subsec. (f) re annual report of use of leaves of
absence, effective January 1, 1997; P.A. 96-168 made technical change in Subsec. (a) by changing reference to "subsection
(s)" to "subdivision (21)", effective July 1, 1996; P.A. 04-95 amended Subsec. (a)(2) to authorize medical leaves of absence
from work for organ or bone marrow donation, added new Subsec. (d) to require physician certification of proposed organ
or bone marrow donation and probable duration of recovery period from such donation, and redesignated existing Subsecs.
(d) and (e) as new Subsecs. (e) and (f); P.A. 06-102 amended Subsec. (a) to define "child", delete individual maximums
re family leave and medical leave and provide that the maximum amount of leaves pursuant to section shall be 24 weeks
within any two-year period, and make technical changes; P.A. 06-196 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective
June 7, 2006.