Court Limits FMLA to Employers with 75 or More In-State Employees

Connecticut’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires employers with 75 or more employees to provide FMLA benefits to their employees. However, it took a recent state Supreme Court decision to determine if those 75 employees needed to be in the state.  In Velez v. Commissioner of Labor, the court upheld the Department of Labor’s interpretation that the act applies only to employers with 75 or more employees in the state, and not in aggregate.  While the court based its decision on a general deference to agency interpretations of statutes and regulations, it also noted that interpreting the act to cover employers with 75 or more employees anywhere in the world could create a “logistical nightmare” for employers with one in-state employee and 74 employees spread around the world, and for the labor commissioner, who would have to conduct investigations into the employment records of employers far outside her jurisdiction.