(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.