Sec.31-51qq-50. What is leave to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness (military caregiver leave)?

(a) Definitions.

The following definitions shall apply to sections 31-51qq-1 to 31-51qq-52, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(1) “Covered servicemember” means a current member of the Armed Forces who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status or is on the temporary disability retired list for a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty.

(2) “Next of kin of a covered servicemember” means the covered servicemember’s nearest blood relative, other than the covered servicemember's spouse, parent, son or daughter, in the following order of priority: Blood relatives who have been granted legal custody of the covered servicemember by court decree or statutory provisions, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and first cousins, unless the covered servicemember has specifically designated in writing another blood relative as his or her nearest blood relative or any other individual whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family member for purposes of military caregiver leave under the FMLA. When no such designation is made, and there are multiple family members with the same level of relationship to the covered servicemember all such family members shall be considered the covered servicemember's next of kin and may take FMLA leave to provide care to the covered servicemember, either consecutively or simultaneously.

(3) “Serious injury or illness” means an injury or illness that was incurred by the covered servicemember in the line of duty on active duty in the Armed Forces or that existed before the beginning of the member's active duty and was aggravated by service in the line of duty on active duty in the Armed Forces and that may render the servicemember medically unfit to perform the duties of the member's office, grade, rank, or rating.

(4) “Son or daughter of a covered servicemember” means the covered servicemember’s biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild, legal ward or child for whom the eligible employee or Armed Forces member stood in loco parentis and who is any age.

(b) Eligible employees are entitled to FMLA leave to care for a covered servicemember.

(c) In order to care for a covered servicemember, an eligible employee shall be the spouse, son, daughter, or parent, or next of kin of a covered servicemember.

(d) An employer is permitted to require an employee to provide a simple written statement, signed by the employee, verifying that the individual is the spouse, son, daughter, parent or next of kin of the covered servicemember.

(e) An eligible employee is entitled to twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave to care for a covered servicemember during a single twelve (12)-month period.

(1) The single twelve (12)-month period described in subsection (e) of this section begins on the first day the eligible employee takes FMLA leave to care for a covered servicemember and ends on the date twelve (12) months after such first day of leave, regardless of the method used by the employer to determine the employee's twelve (12) workweeks of leave entitlement for other qualifying reasons. If an eligible employee does not take all of his or her twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave entitlement to care for a covered servicemember during this single twelve (12)-month period, the remaining part of his or her twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave entitlement to care for the covered servicemember is forfeited.

(2) The leave entitlement described in subsection (e) of this section is to be applied on a per-covered-servicemember, per-injury basis such that an eligible employee may be entitled to take more than one period of twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave if the leave is to care for different covered servicemembers or to care for the same servicemember with a subsequent serious injury or illness, except that no more than twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave may be taken within any single twelve (12)-month period. An eligible employee may take more than one period of twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave to care for a covered servicemember with more than one (1) serious injury or illness only when the serious injury or illness is a subsequent serious injury or illness. When an eligible employee takes leave to care for more than one (1) covered servicemember or for a subsequent serious injury or illness of the same covered servicemember, and the single twelve (12)-month periods corresponding to the different military caregiver leave entitlements overlap, the employee is limited to taking no more than twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave in each single twelve (12)-month period.

(3) An eligible employee is entitled to a combined total of twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave for any qualifying reason during the single twelve (12)-month period described in subsection (e) of this section, provided that the employee is entitled to no more than twelve (12) workweeks of leave for one or more of the following: Because of the birth of a son or daughter of the employee and in order to care for such son or daughter; because of the placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption or foster care; in order to care for a family member of the employee, if such family member has a serious health condition; because of the employee's own serious health condition; in order to serve as an organ or bone marrow donor; or because of a qualifying exigency, as described in section 31-51qq-49 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, except that an employee may take up to two (2) additional workweeks of leave for a serious health condition resulting in incapacitation that occurs during a pregnancy. Thus, for example, an eligible employee may, during the single twelve (12)-month period, take sixteen (16) workweeks of FMLA leave to care for a covered servicemember and ten (10) workweeks of FMLA leave to care for a newborn child. However, the employee may not take more than twelve (12) weeks of FMLA leave to care for the newborn child during the single twelve (12)-month period, even if the employee takes fewer than fourteen (14) workweeks of FMLA leave to care for a covered servicemember.

(4) In all circumstances, including for leave taken to care for a covered servicemember, the employer is responsible for designating leave, paid or unpaid, as qualifying, and for giving notice of the designation to the employee as provided in section 31-51qq-26 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. In the case of leave that qualifies as both leave to care for a covered servicemember and leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition during the single twelve (12)-month period described in subsection (e) of this section, the employer shall designate such leave as leave to care for a covered servicemember in the first instance. Leave that qualifies as both leave to care for a covered servicemember and leave taken to care for a family member with a serious health condition during the single twelve (12)-month period described in subsection (e) of this section shall not be designated and counted as both leave to care for a covered servicemember and leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. As is the case with leave taken for other qualifying reasons, employers may retroactively designate leave as leave to care for a covered servicemember.

(f) Spouses who are eligible for FMLA leave and are employed by the same covered employer may be limited to a combined total of twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave during any twelve (12)-month period if the leave is taken to care for a covered servicemember. The limitation on the total weeks of leave applies to leave taken for the reason specified in subsection (e) of this section as long as the spouses are employed by the same employer. It would apply, for example, even though the spouses are employed at two (2) different worksites of an employer or by two (2) different operating divisions of the same company. On the other hand, if one (1) spouse is ineligible for FMLA leave, the other spouse would be entitled to a full twenty-six (26)-week entitlement.

(Effective August 3, 2022)