• Connecticut FMLA Law Does Not Apply to Employers with Fewer Than 75 Workers In Connecticut

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The Connecticut Supreme Court, in JOAQUINA VELEZ v. COMMISSIONER OF LABOR ET AL. (SC 18683) (SC 18684), has ruled that the state Family and Medical Leave Act applies to only those employers that have 75 or more workers within the state of Connecticut. In part, the Court said: ”For all the foregoing reasons, the trial court incorrectly concluded that RMC [Related Management Company] is subject to the requirements of the leave statute when RMC employs fewer than seventy-five employees in this state. Because the leave statute does not apply to RMC, the plaintiff’s claim under that statute must fail. The judgment is reversed and the case is remanded with direction to render judgment denying the plaintiff’s appeal.” Comment: Our state’s FMLA law is one of the most useless, duplicative, complicated messes our glorious legislature has ever foisted upon state employers. The federal FMLA applies to those with 50 or more employees, and it is extremely unlikely that an employer of 75 or more would not also fall under the federal law. To further complicate matters, the Connecticut FMLA is just different enough in its requirements so as to make it nearly impossible to comply with both state and federal law, which an employer of 50 or more must do as neither law supersedes the other. So what do we need the Connecticut law for? The Connecticut FMLA should be subtitled “Attorney’s Retirement-Supplement Act” as the only persons who benefit from it are the lawyers who have to defend employers that run afoul of this legislation. Source: Velez v. Commissioner

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