New CT laws take effect: Paid sick leave, absentee ballots, coerced debt

Legislation concerning student loan repayment assistance, paid sick days and absentee ballots are among over a dozen laws that took effect in Connecticut on Jan. 1.

Laws are passed by the Connecticut General Assembly during each year’s legislative session or in a special session. They typically take effect on Jan. 1, July 1 or Oct. 1.

Here are some of the new laws that were implemented when the new year began.

Paid sick days

Legislation passed in 2024 expands Connecticut’s paid sick leave law beginning Jan. 1 by applying it to more employers and broadening the definition of a “family member” and the circumstances that qualify for sick time.

As of Jan. 1, employers with at least 25 employees will be required to offer paid sick days. That employee count will lower to 11 in 2026 and then to one on Jan. 1, 2027.

Seasonal workers — those who work 120 days or fewer in any year — will remain largely exempt.

Employees can use sick time to care for a family member, and the law expands the definition of “family member” to include a sibling, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or an individual whose “close association the employee shows to be equivalent to those family relationships.”

Previously, the law had only covered care for children and spouses.

Additionally, the new law covers employees who use sick leave because of the closure of their workplace or a family member’s school or place of care due to a public health emergency, and when an employee or family member is deemed at risk to others after being exposed to a communicable illness.

Absentee ballot application changes

A new law requires that absentee ballot applications be clearly marked with the specific year they’re valid for, and prohibits applications and ballots without the year noted on them from being distributed or used.

The law also puts tighter regulations on absentee ballot application requests, prohibiting town clerks from giving a person five or more ballot applications if the date they request them is 90 days or more before absentee ballots are issued for that election.

The updated regulations follow an ongoing absentee ballot scandal in Bridgeport, where a judge ordered the city to re-do its 2023 mayoral primary election between Mayor Joe Ganim and his opponent John Gomes following allegations of absentee ballot fraud.

Earlier this year, Connecticut prosecutors also charged several Bridgeport political operatives with abusing the absentee balloting system during the city’s 2019 Democratic primary for mayor.

Elder care reform

A wide-ranging law reforming the elder care industry requires that beginning Jan. 1, the Department of Social Services must develop and maintain an online home care provider registry to help consumers find workers who have the correct language proficiency and skills.

Historically, people on the state’s Medicaid program seeking care at home have received a binder with printed pages that in many cases contained outdated employee information.

Other portions of the law have previously been implemented, including a requirement that DSS and the Department of Public Health post prominent links to a federal website that uses a five-star rating system to compare nursing homes and a requirement that home care workers wear badges with their name and picture during client appointments.

Coerced debt

A new law seeks to provide recourse to victims of “coerced debt,” which is debt that is incurred in an individual’s name under duress, intimidation or threat of force — typically by a victim’s former spouse or partner.

The law requires that when a person claims their debt was coerced and provides documentation, collection entities must pause collecting that debt for at least 60 days while they review the individual’s claim.

If a collection entity decides to stop collecting from a victim and had previously given negative information about that person to a credit agency, the collector is required to tell the agency to delete that information.

If a court determines debt was coerced, the person who caused it can be held liable to the collection agency for the total debt, as well as to the victim for legal fees.

Employer student loan reimbursement

Existing Connecticut law allows employers to receive a tax credit for making payments toward qualifying student loans on behalf of an employee. The new legislation expands eligibility by applying the law to all student loans, rather than only loans issued by the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority.