Connecticut Paid Leave in 2026: a benefit pegged to the minimum wage
CT Paid Leave pays workers for their own serious health condition, a new child or a seriously ill relative. Its thresholds move with the Connecticut minimum wage, not with an average wage.
Connecticut Paid Leave, bonding with a new child
$837
a week · $10,046 for 12 weeks
| Weekly benefit | $837 |
| Average weekly wage used | $1,000 |
| Weeks paid (up to 12 weeks for this reason) | 12 weeks |
| Total for this leave | $10,046 |
| Federal income tax on it, about | $1,206 |
| Your take-home pay now, a week | $840 |
| Share of take-home pay replaced | 100 % before tax |
Connecticut: 95% of the weekly wage up to 40 times the Connecticut minimum wage ($677.60), plus 60% above, capped at 60 times the minimum wage ($1,016.40). The engine averages your two highest quarters.
Compiled by Radif Partners · How the estimates are built · state laws and agency pages read October 20, 2026
Connecticut Paid Leave replaces 95 % of your average weekly wage up to 40 times the state minimum wage, which at $16.94 an hour is $677.60 a week as of January 1, 2026. Wages above that line are replaced at 60 %, and the benefit stops at 60 times the minimum wage, $1,016.40 a week, up from $981 for claims in 2025. You reach the cap at a weekly wage of about $1,299, so most full-time workers above roughly $67,534 a year receive the same amount. At $32,000 a year the estimate is $585 a week; at $52,000, $837. Leave lasts up to 12 weeks in a twelve-month period, with 2 more weeks for incapacity during pregnancy. Workers alone fund the program through a contribution of 0.5 % of wages, up to the Social Security limit of $184,500.
Why the minimum wage sets your benefit
Most programs anchor their tiers to the state average weekly wage. Connecticut uses its hourly minimum wage instead: the first tier ends at 40 hours of minimum wage, $677.60, and the maximum is 60 hours of it, $1,016.40 (CT Paid Leave, before you apply). When the minimum wage rises, both figures rise with it, which is why the cap moved from $981 to $1,016.40.
The first tier is generous. A worker whose weekly wage is $677.60 or less receives 95 % of it, a first-tier rate topped only by Oregon's. A full-time minimum-wage worker therefore loses very little while on leave.
Your CT Paid Leave check
Connecticut Paid Leave, bonding with a new child
$837
| Weekly benefit | $837 |
| Average weekly wage used | $1,000 |
| Weeks paid (up to 12 weeks for this reason) | 12 weeks |
| Total for this leave | $10,046 |
A low cap for higher earners
The other side of this design is a cap that binds early. From a weekly wage of about $1,299, the benefit is fixed at $1,016.40; a worker earning $80,000 a year receives the same amount as one earning $68,000. Compared with Washington's cap of $1,647 or Oregon's $1,692.16, Connecticut pays higher earners noticeably less. For a household that relies on one higher salary, the gap between pay and benefit during a long leave can be large, and some employers fill part of it with a policy of their own. Ask your employer whether it tops up the state benefit and whether accrued vacation can run alongside it.
12 weeks, plus 2 for pregnancy
Leave of all kinds is limited to 12 weeks in a twelve-month period, with the possibility of 2 additional weeks for incapacity during pregnancy (How CT Paid Leave works). The weeks are shared between your own health, bonding and caring for a relative. A pregnancy with incapacity and recovery, 14 weeks at $52,000 a year, comes to about $10,046.
The 0.5 % contribution
The CT Paid Leave Board kept the contribution at 0.5 % for 2026, paid by employees through payroll (CT Paid Leave contributions). Contributions stop once your wages for the year reach the Social Security contribution limit, $184,500. At $52,000 a year that is about $260; the most anyone pays is $923.
Taxes
Family leave benefits are federal taxable income under Revenue Ruling 2025-4. Medical leave benefits funded by employee contributions are excluded, and Connecticut's program is funded by employees. The paid leave tax page sets out the rule.
Connecticut Paid Leave: the 2026 figures
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Benefit rule | 95% of the weekly wage up to 40 times the Connecticut minimum wage ($677.60), plus 60% above, capped at 60 times the minimum wage ($1,016.40) |
| Weekly benefit, 2026 | up to $1,016.40 |
| Weeks: Own health or pregnancy | 12 |
| Weeks: Bonding with a new child | 12 |
| Weeks: Caring for a relative | 12 |
| Weeks: With a pregnancy complication | 14 |
| Employee premium, 2026 | 0.5% of wages up to $184,500 |