CT Paid Leave Calculator

Connecticut Paid Leave

How CT Paid Leave figures your weekly benefit

The CT Paid Leave Authority works from your base period, which is the first four of the five most recently completed calendar quarters before you apply. It adds the gross wages from the two quarters in which you earned the most, divides the total by 26 and rounds the result down to the next whole dollar. That figure is your average weekly wage. For claims filed from October 1 to December 31, 2026, the base period runs from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.

The benefit itself has two tiers tied to the Connecticut minimum wage, which is $16.94 an hour for 2026. The part of your average weekly wage up to 40 times the minimum wage, or $677.60, is replaced at 95 percent. Anything above $677.60 is replaced at 60 percent. The total is capped at 60 times the minimum wage, which is $1,016.40 a week. In the default example the two best quarters are $9,500 and $8,750. Together that is $18,250; divided by 26 it is $701.92, rounded down to $701. The benefit is 95 percent of $677.60, or $643.72, plus 60 percent of the $23.40 above it, or $14.04, for a total of $657.76 a week.

CT Paid Leave walks through three examples on its application page, and the calculator gives the same result for each:

Source: CT Paid Leave Authority, Before You Apply, step 5, examples one to three. In the third example the formula gives $1,044.76, so the $1,016.40 cap applies.

What different wages pay in 2026

Because the first $677.60 of your average weekly wage is replaced at 95 percent and the rest at 60 percent, lower earners keep a larger share of their pay. The table shows the 2026 weekly benefit at several average weekly wages. You reach the cap once your average weekly wage is $1,299 or more, which means about $33,774 in your two best quarters.

Calculated with the CT Paid Leave formula for claims filed in 2026. Shares are rounded to the nearest percent.

Who qualifies

You are a covered employee if you earned at least $2,325 from covered employers in the highest-earning quarter of your base period and you either work for a covered employer now or did within the last 12 weeks. Almost every business with one or more employees working in Connecticut is a covered employer. Only wages from covered employers in Connecticut count toward your average weekly wage. Sole proprietors and self-employed people can join the program by enrolling, and once enrolled their self-employment income counts too. CT Paid Leave uses an example in which quarterly pay of $2,200, $1,600, $2,000 and $2,400 qualifies, because the $2,400 quarter clears $2,325.

How many weeks you can collect

You can receive up to 12 weeks of benefits in a rolling 12-month period for most reasons. Connecticut adds 2 more weeks, for 14 in all, when a serious health condition causes incapacity during a pregnancy. The qualifying reasons are your own serious health condition, which includes serving as an organ or bone marrow donor; pregnancy, childbirth and bonding with a newly born, adopted or foster child; caring for a family member with a serious health condition; military caregiver leave; qualifying exigency leave tied to a family member's military service; and safe leave after family violence or sexual assault. Caring for a service member injured on active duty allows up to 26 weeks of leave, but only 12 of those weeks are paid, and no more than 12 days of the 12 weeks can be used for safe leave. Two spouses who work for the same employer can each receive up to 12 weeks. In the default example, 12 weeks of bonding leave at $657.76 a week comes to $7,893.12, and 14 weeks for a pregnancy-related incapacity would come to $9,208.64.

Part-time leave, other pay and taxes

You do not have to take your leave all at once: the law lets you receive benefits for nonconsecutive hours of leave and makes them available on a prorated basis. You can also receive CT Paid Leave while your employer pays other benefits, such as paid time off or short-term disability, as long as the total does not exceed your regular rate of pay. The program is funded by a 0.5 percent contribution from workers' paychecks up to the Social Security wage limit, and the board kept that rate at 0.5 percent for 2026. For your regular paycheck once you are back at work, see the Connecticut salary calculator.

You can elect to have income tax withheld from your benefits. For federal tax, the IRS explained in Revenue Ruling 2025-4 that family leave benefits paid by a state program are taxable income, while medical leave benefits are excluded except the part that comes from employer contributions. Ask a tax professional how that applies to your claim, and see disability benefits tax for how employer-funded disability pay is treated. If you live in New York and work in Connecticut, work in Connecticut, live in New York covers the state income tax side.

Before you apply

CT Paid Leave asks you to apply within 45 days of the reason for your leave; after that you need to show good cause for the delay. A change in the minimum wage while your claim is open does not change your benefit, because it is fixed from your base period earnings. Actual payments can differ from this estimate because of your work schedule, other income replacement you receive and the length of your leave. For leave programs in other states, compare the Washington paid family leave calculator and the CA SDI calculator, or use the maternity leave pay calculator for a quick side by side.