HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut Paid Leave Authority, which provides the state’s workforce with access to paid family leave benefits, recently issued its third annual report to the State of Connecticut.
As of June 30, the Authority reports it has paid more than $789 million in CT Paid Leave benefits to 117,729 workers in Connecticut since the benefit payments began in January 2022. Between July 1, 2023, and June 30 this year, the CT Paid Leave program received 91,883 applications, according to the Authority.
During this one-year stretch, 65,138 Connecticut workers received $379 million in approved benefit payments. The Authority notes that the average approved leave duration for claims during the reporting year was 7.78 weeks, and the average weekly benefit payment was $707.14.
The top reason for application submissions received over those 12 months was an employee’s own illness or injury; 50,120 applications were received, marking more than half of all applications. The Authority says that of all the applications that received a decision during the reporting period, 75.47% were approved, while 24.53% were denied.
The main reason that some people were denied is insufficient documentation.
According to the Authority, contributions received during the year were $457,185,975, and the trust fund balance as of June 30 was $566,064,914.
“While the sheer number of individuals who have been helped by the program is impressive, what speaks to the importance of paid leave even more clearly is what benefit recipients say about their experiences,” CEO Erin Choquette of the CT Paid Leave Authority said, noting that there have been many positive reviews.
This year, the Authority has kept reaching out to communities all around Connecticut to raise awareness of the program and help with applications. Beyond community events, outreach and education even included a podcast and website redesign.
The Authority says it has been broadening and expanding its partnerships with more than 30 community organizations, including 13 of the state’s libraries. It is also responding to requests from organizations out of state to provide insight into the program. According to the Authority, awareness of the program has grown on account of the outreach efforts, which is represented by an increase in total claim applications received of 7.65% from the previous year.
“We have the opportunity to administer a program that is critically important to the well-being of our state’s workforce and business community, and we take this responsibility very seriously,” Choquette said. “We remain dedicated to our mission of providing seamless access to critical benefits during life’s most important moments. It takes innovation, creativity, dedication and passion – day in and day out – and it is our honor to be able to do this work.”
The Authority says claims can be filed online at the website linked above, where step-by-step instructions are available. Claims can also be filed by phone by calling 877-499-8606. Hours of operation for live reps are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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