Hartford Business Journal

19 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 18, 2021 TOTAL PROJECT SIZE: 60,000 SF Building For Your Success ELECTRO METHODS SOUTH WINDSOR, CT Since 1965, one of our specialties has been pre- engineered metal buildings. Totaling 60,000 square feet, this addition was designed and built to spec for Electro Methods in South Windsor CT. Consisting mainly of production and warehouse space, this building included specific rooms tailored to our client's needs. Designed to their budget and timeline, these rooms included plastics, programming, inspection, blasting and more. For over 55 years, PDS has always built relationships based on trust, efficiency, and transparency to provide the highest quality end result. SPOTLIGHT ON: PRE-ENGINEERED METAL BUILDINGS 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 | 860.242.8586 | pdsec.com THINK • PLAN • BUILD they already offer. Reeves said she has also heard worries about staffing shortages once the law goes fully into effect and workers take advantage of the new benefits. But data from states that have adopted similar plans don't support those dire predictions, she said. "In states that have this, they're not seeing that uptick" in people taking leave, she said. Businesses consulting with Hartford-area accounting firms and lawyers seem to have reached the same conclusion. At least for now, experts said, the most remarkable thing about the new paid medical and family leave system may be how unremarkable the implementation has been. "It really has been a smooth transition into this program," said Jennifer Marecki, director of HR advisory at accounting and professional services firm CLA in West Hartford. "The authority did a great job of putting communications out. It's been a very simple process." Marecki said she hasn't heard much concern from clients about benefits becoming available in January, probably because so much of the process is out of their hands. Employees pay the tax that supports the program, she noted, and the eligibility requirements for taking leave are very clear. In addition, it is the paid leave authority and its claims administrator that will ultimately determine an applicant's eligibility. And larger corporations with multistate operations have likely already encountered and successfully adapted to various paid leave requirements, Marecki added. "There are similarly-structured programs in New York and Massachusetts, so many employers are familiar with this, at least at the higher level," she said. Glenn Dowd, a partner in Hartford law firm Day Pitney's employment and labor department, echoed those sentiments, referring to the relatively low burden placed on employers. "From a business owner's perspective it's not costing them," Dowd said. "Unless you choose to form your own private plan, you're not deciding eligibility. Employers are not happy about having another cost imposed on their workers, which makes them less competitive, but it's hard to argue that this is imposing anything on them because it comes out of employees' paychecks." Part of the reason for the seeming lack of worry could be that the new program does not greatly expand the number of conditions or situations that make workers eligible for leave. Under earlier state and federal rules, employees could still seek and receive time off from their jobs, and while the new law did extend eligibility to cover new situations, such as family violence and organ donation, the eligibility standards have not radically changed, Dowd explained. Paid leave eligibility When Connecticut's new family and medical leave program kicks in Jan. 1, eligible workers will be able to take up to 12 paid weeks off for the following reasons: • Birth or adoption of a child • Serious illness • Pregnancy • Organ or blood marrow donation • Caring for a family member with a serious illness • Family violence • Active military service • Caring for a family member injured during active military service "By and large it's not significantly different," he said. The fact that workers will now be compensated during their leave period could end up changing that picture, Dowd noted, but at least for now, companies don't appear to be too troubled. "You could argue that it makes the leave more enticing because it's paid, and so you might have more employees trying to take advantage of that, and that could exacerbate the worker shortage," he said. "And that might turn out to be true, but I haven't heard anything from employers indicating their concern about that." Even now, months after the payroll deduction came into effect, Dowd said he was caught somewhat off- guard by the lack of reaction to the added cost. "I'm very surprised," he said. "I would have thought there would have been a lot of grumbling when people noticed that deduction in their paycheck. But that didn't happen."

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