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4 HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL | MAY 2023 | BUSINESS PROFILES C onnecticut's Paid Leave Program (CTPL) is the result of years of advocacy by hundreds of groups who understood the importance of income replacement for workers in their time of need. Whether they are expanding their family, recovering from a serious health condition or caring for a sick family member, CT Paid Leave means workers can continue to pay the bills during their time away from work. As the CT Paid Leave Authority enters its third year of collecting employee contributions and second year of paying benefits, the agency is transitioning from startup to steady state and the results for workers confirm the program's impact. Since December 2021, when CTPL began accepting applications for benefits, the program has received 123,979 claims and has paid approximately $338 million in benefits to Connecticut workers. Half of all claims were for an employee's own illness. Bonding with a new child accounted for 22% of claims, pregnancy and childbirth were at 16% of claims, care of a family member was 12% of claims, and the remaining 10% of claims were for adoption/foster care bonding, bone marrow or organ donation, family violence leave, and military family leave. For workers, these benefits have been a lifesaver. Stephanie of Noank, whose husband Dan used CT Paid Leave for 12 weeks of bonding when the couple's twins were born, says, "Since we have two babies, having Dan home was instrumental. Having my partner here was such a gift. Without this program, Dan only would have gotten one week." For employers, CTPL serves as an important retention tool without financial burden because the program is funded entirely by workers through a payroll deduction of 0.5%. Workers are able to take the time they need to recover rather than risking further illness or on-the-job injury due to returning to work too soon. One employer, Corey Tolkin of Unbakeables says, "Connecticut Paid Leave is honestly something that I, as a small- business owner, only ever hoped to be able to give to my employees." The cost of turnover – recruiting, onboarding and training a new employee – is estimated to be one-fifth of an employee's annual salary. When employees experience a serious illness or injury, welcome a child, or need to care for a loved one and don't have access to paid leave, they are far less likely to return to their jobs. CTPL not only often helps save the employer the expenses resulting from employee turnover, it also makes small businesses more competitive by enabling their employees to receive a benefit the small businesses may not be able to afford to provide. Studies show that paid leave programs boost employee morale and increase productivity as well. As CT Paid Leave looks to the future, it plans to continue implementing enhancements to the claimant experience and focusing on improving employer communications. With continuous process improvement, a data- driven focus and expansion of its network of CTPL Ambassadors, it looks forward to making the program even more successful in the years to come. Employers, Employees Both Draw Benefit from State Paid Leave Program Website: www.ctpaidleave.org Product or Service: Income replacement benefits during leave for family or medical reasons No. of employees: 32 Top Executive: Erin Choquette, CEO Year Founded: CT Paid Leave law was passed in 2019 and first employee was hired February 2020 Actual CT Paid Leave recipients.