Connecticut DOL Requires Employers To Report on Use of FMLA

Posted on January 22, 2008 by Daniel Schwartz

The Connecticut Department of Labor has just posted a form for employers to fill out online regarding their experiences with the use of FMLA for the 2007 calendar year.  Filling out this form is required by state regulation for employers who are subject to the Act.

The Department's website has the details:

If your company employed 75 or more employees in Connecticut as of October 1, 2006 you are subject to the Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act and as such your response is needed for the Labor Commissioner's report. Kindly take a moment to complete this form ant transmit it back to us before April 1, 2008. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

What the website does not specify is that the use of this form is actually mandated by state regulations. Specifically, Conn. Reg. Sec. 31-51qq-48 states that

(b) Employers shall report the following data for each calendar year for which they are subject to the Act: 

(1) Employer’s name;
(2) Number of employees;
(3) Number of family leaves approved for birth or adoption, and duration;
(4) Number of family leaves approved for family illness, and duration;
(5) Number of medical leaves approved, and duration;
(6) Any other information the Commissioner determines necessary to assess the current experience of employers with medical and family leaves of absence. Any family or medical leave approved under the Act which includes less than five days unpaid leave need not be reported to the Labor Department.

Although the language of the regulation suggests that compliance is mandatory, there is no indication in the regulation for the "punishment" for failure to comply.   Nevertheless, there also appears to be no "harm" in filling out the form either.  The goal of this form and report appears to be simply to track the progress and use of the state FMLA laws. 

Employers may receive notice of this form via the mail later this winter, but it is an easy item to get a head start on.  Once the numbers are compiled, the form can likely be filled out in just a few minutes.

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Four for....The Basics of the NLRA, FCRA, FMLA and CTFMLA, and Wage & Hour Laws

Posted on October 16, 2007 by Daniel Schwartz

Many times, clients and acquaintances call looking for the "basics" of various materials. Although I'm happy to oblige, some of the "basics" materials are already out there on the Internet. In fact, the government typically has a good summaries of various laws prepared for everyday use. While these documents should not be relied upon entirely, they provide a good foundation for being able to conduct "issue-spotting" -- an important trait to have for both attorneys and HR professionals.

Here are four documents or websites that are among the more helpful I've seen to understand the basics of various state and federal employment laws.

  • Basic Guide to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) -  The Office of General Counsel for the NLRB has put together a fairly comprehensive 38 page summary of the "basics" of NLRA. What does this mean? Essentially, for the non-lawyers out there, it is a good nuts and bolts document about various U.S. labor laws.  You can download it clicking here, or go to the NLRB website directly. 
  • The Basics of Background Checks - The Federal Trade Commission has put together a short description of what employers should know about the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  The FTC also has a variety of other links about FCRA on a webpage devoted to the act. 
  • The Basics of Whether an Employee is Exempt or Non-Exempt - The Connecticut Department of Labor has a noteworthy worksheet for employers to use to determine whether certain employees should be classified as exempt or non-exempt (in other words, determining the employee's eligibility for overtime).  The worksheet notes that an employee must satisfy the duties and salary tests and cautions that the form should not be used as a substitute for legal advice, which is sound advice indeed.  The CTDOL website also has a summary of wage and hour laws for employers as well. 
  • The Basics of the State and Federal Family and Medical Leave Act - Employers in Connecticut should be familiar with the fact that state FMLA laws differ in some notable ways from the federal laws. Figuring out which law applies when is a challenging issue.  The Connecticut Department of Labor, however, has put out a comparison of the two laws with answers to some frequently asked questions about it.   For many employers, understanding Connecticut's rule of providing 16 weeks of leave over a 2 year period and its interaction with the federal rule of 12 weeks in a one year period is crucial to avoiding issues down the road.

 Feel free to comment or add your own favorites on various "basics" documents.

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