How Does Intermittent FMLA Work in Connecticut?

Intermittent FMLA in Connecticut lets eligible workers take their 12 weeks of job-protected family and medical leave in small blocks — hours at a time, a day here and there, or a reduced schedule — rather than in one continuous stretch, and receive partial wage replacement through the state’s Paid Leave program for the time actually missed. It is built for chronic conditions, recurring treatments, and caregiving situations that don’t fit a single continuous absence. The mechanics matter, because two separate programs are involved and each one has its own application, its own eligibility test, and its own reporting duties.

Two Programs, Two Applications

Connecticut splits what most people think of as “FMLA” into two pieces. The Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act gives you job protection: your employer must hold your position or an equivalent one while you’re on approved leave. Connecticut Paid Leave, administered by Aflac for the CT Paid Leave Authority, replaces part of your wages from a state trust fund. Neither program triggers the other.

You request job-protected leave from your employer under CT FMLA. You apply for wage replacement through the CT Paid Leave portal. File only for paid benefits and your employer has no obligation to hold your job. Request only job protection and no money will come. Most people using intermittent leave need to file both.¹

Who Qualifies

For job protection under CT FMLA, you need three consecutive months of employment with your current employer immediately before the leave. Thirteen weeks counts as three months. The employer threshold is one employee, so almost every private-sector employer in the state is covered.²

Municipalities, local and regional boards of education, and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools are excluded from CT FMLA’s employer definition. Workers at those entities may have rights under federal FMLA or a collective bargaining agreement, but the state protections here don’t reach them the same way.²

Wage replacement is a separate eligibility question. To receive CT Paid Leave benefits you must have earned at least $2,325 in your highest-earning quarter during the base period, which is the first four of the five most recently completed calendar quarters, with wages from a covered employer. Passing the three-month job test does not automatically make you eligible for money, and qualifying financially does not automatically give you job protection.³

Reasons That Support Intermittent Use

Intermittent leave is designed for conditions that flare up unpredictably or require recurring treatment. Connecticut defines a serious health condition as an illness, injury, or impairment involving inpatient care or continuing treatment by a healthcare provider. Chronic problems like asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and migraines fit naturally. So do ongoing treatment regimens: chemotherapy, dialysis, physical therapy after surgery.²

You can also use intermittent leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Connecticut’s definition is broad, covering spouses, siblings, parents, children, grandparents, and grandchildren, and also anyone related by blood or by a close personal association whose relationship is the equivalent of family. A biological or legal tie is not required for every covered relationship.²

Bonding leave after a birth, adoption, or foster placement is a qualifying reason, but taking it intermittently requires your employer’s agreement. Without consent, bonding leave has to run in one continuous stretch. Medical-related intermittent leave does not need employer consent.

How the Hours Count Against Your 12 Weeks

Connecticut provides up to 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period for most qualifying reasons, and up to two additional weeks for incapacitation during pregnancy, for a possible total of 14 weeks in those cases.⁴

When you take that entitlement in pieces, it converts to hours based on your normal schedule. A 40-hour worker has 480 hours available; a 30-hour worker has 360. Each absence is deducted as a proportion of your workweek. Four hours missed for an appointment out of a 40-hour week is one-tenth of a week of leave. For variable schedules, the calculation uses the weekly average of hours scheduled over the 12 months before the leave begins, and CT Paid Leave pays benefits based on time missed down to the minute.⁵⁴

Your employer has to let you use intermittent leave in the smallest increment it uses for any other kind of leave, and that increment cannot be larger than one hour. If sick time is tracked in 15-minute blocks, intermittent FMLA has to be available in 15-minute blocks as well.⁵

What You Get Paid

Your CT Paid Leave benefit starts with your average weekly wage: add your two highest-earning quarters in the base period and divide by 26. Then the replacement formula:

If your average weekly wage is $677.60 or less (the Connecticut minimum wage times 40, as of January 1, 2026), your benefit is 95% of that average weekly wage.
If it exceeds $677.60, your benefit is 95% of $677.60 plus 60% of the amount above $677.60.

The maximum weekly benefit is $1,016.40 as of January 1, 2026, which is 60 times the state minimum wage. For intermittent leave, that weekly figure is prorated to the actual hours or minutes you missed, so a two-hour absence produces a much smaller payment than a full week off.⁶

Medical Certification for an Intermittent Claim

The certification form your healthcare provider completes is the heart of any intermittent claim. On top of confirming a serious health condition, the provider has to estimate how often episodes will occur and how long each one is likely to last. Vague answers get claims sent back. Specific ranges work better: “two episodes every four weeks, each lasting one to two days,” for example.

Download the forms through the CT Paid Leave Aflac portal after you submit your initial application, or call Aflac at (877) 499-8606. The certification must include a start date, an expected end date for the condition, and the provider’s signature and date. Missing fields delay processing.⁷

Your employer can request a second medical opinion if it has reason to doubt the certification, and a binding third opinion from a mutually agreed provider if the first two conflict. The employer pays for both, including reasonable travel costs.⁸ For ongoing intermittent leave, recertification typically cannot be demanded more than every 30 days unless circumstances change — for example, if absences run more frequent than the certification predicted.

Notice You Owe, and Not Just Once

Intermittent leave is a continuous reporting obligation, not a one-and-done filing.

When the need is foreseeable — scheduled treatments, planned appointments, predictable flare-ups — give your employer at least 30 days’ advance notice. When something comes up suddenly, notify as soon as practicable, which usually means the same day or the next business day. For an ongoing intermittent situation, you only need to notify your employer of the overall need once, but any change in scheduled dates should be communicated as soon as possible.⁹ You’re also expected to make a reasonable effort to schedule treatment so it does not unnecessarily disrupt your employer’s operations, which does not mean overriding your doctor.

Separately, you must report each intermittent absence to CT Paid Leave within two days. Missing that window can mean no benefit for that episode. This dual reporting — to your employer under CT FMLA and to the state under CT Paid Leave — runs the entire time you’re using intermittent leave.⁴

Temporary Transfer to a Different Position

One feature of intermittent leave that surprises employees: if the leave is foreseeable and based on planned medical treatment, your employer can temporarily move you to a different position that better accommodates the recurring absences. The alternative position must carry equivalent pay and benefits, but it does not have to have the same duties. A client-facing role could become an administrative one, for instance, as long as compensation stays the same.¹⁰

The transfer cannot be used as punishment or to pressure you into abandoning your leave, and a collective bargaining agreement may limit it. If your employer places you on a reduced schedule to match your availability, it must maintain the same hourly rate and benefits rather than cut them.¹⁰

If a Claim Is Denied

Common reasons a CT Paid Leave application gets denied include incomplete medical certification, insufficient earnings during the base period, and missed documentation deadlines. Read the denial letter first. Sometimes the problem is a missing signature or a frequency estimate too vague to approve, and correcting and resubmitting is faster than a formal appeal.

Once you have a final denial from the CT Paid Leave Authority, you can appeal to the Connecticut Department of Labor’s Appeals Division. The fastest route is the state’s Leave Complaint and Appeals portal, which also lets you track status and receive decisions electronically.¹¹

1
Connecticut Paid Leave. CT Paid Leave and CT FMLA
2
Justia. Connecticut Code 31-51kk – Family and Medical Leave Definitions
3
Connecticut Paid Leave. Coverage and Eligibility
4
Connecticut Paid Leave. How CT Paid Leave Works
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28I – Counting Leave Use under the Family and Medical Leave Act
6
Connecticut Paid Leave. Before You Apply
7
Connecticut Paid Leave. Application Document Checklist
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28G – Medical Certification under the Family and Medical Leave Act
9
Legal Information Institute. Connecticut Agencies Regulations 31-51rr-33 – Employee Notice Requirements for Foreseeable FMLA Leave
10
Connecticut eRegulations. Connecticut Regulations 31-51qq-15 – Alternative Position for Intermittent or Reduced Schedule Leave
11
Connecticut Department of Labor. CT Paid Leave Appeals