Perhaps one of the biggest regulatory changes employers will see in 2022 is the official roll out of the state’s paid leave program, which was created by state lawmakers in 2019.
The program will provide up to 12 weeks of paid family or sick leave and become available to qualified workers in Connecticut on Jan. 1, 2022.
Overseeing the program is Andrea Barton Reeves, who was named CEO of the Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Authority in early 2020.
Reeves has already gotten the program off the ground. At the beginning of this year, the authority began collecting employee payroll deductions — half of 1% from worker paychecks — that will fund the program. At the end of the first quarter, the authority registered 108,911 businesses and collected more than $102 million in contributions.
The paid leave program raised concerns from some in the business community and many will be watching it in the year ahead as it moves from concept to reality. It will also force employers, to some degree, to change the way they manage their workforce, with the possibility of losing more workers for longer durations.
Reeves was formerly the president and CEO of Harc Inc., a nonprofit that provides services to the intellectually disabled.