The Connecticut Department of Labor has issued its long-awaited guidance this morning on the new Paid Leave Law that becomes effective on January 1, 2012.

You can download the CTDOL’s guidance here.

My cursory review of the guidance indicates that it answers some questions that have been floating out there — albeit in ways that employers may not like.

For example, the DOL has confirmed that the 680 hour threshold that an employee needs to work before the employee is eligible to take paid sick time is a lifetime requirement at an employer. In other words, if an employee works 500 hours for an employer, then has a break in service and returns, those 500 hours still count towards being able to take paid leave. It is consistent with some of the issues we’ve discussed on this blog before.

Because the guidance has lots of information, I will followup in the next few days with some additional thoughts on it.

But in the meantime, this guidance should be required reading for all who have any questions about the paid sick leave.

The DOL has also issued a poster in English that needs to be posted by January 1, 2012. A version in Spanish is in the process of being translated, according to the DOL, and will be available soon.