O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 24-102—sSB 220
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Judiciary Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING CL ARIFYING THE APPEALS PROCESS
UNDER THE PAID FAMIL Y AND MEDICAL LEAVE STATUTES
SUMMARY: By law, anyone aggrieved by the Paid Family and Medical Leave
Authority’s denial of program benefits or by the imposition of penalties for certain
program-related fraud may appeal to the labor commissioner. The commissioner or
her designee (collectively referred to as the Department of Labor (DOL) below)
must decide the appeal, and a party aggrieved by DOL’s decision may then appeal,
within 30 days, to the Superior Court for the Hartford Judicial District or the judicial
district where they live.
This act specifies certain procedural steps and other criteria that must be
followed in these appeals to the court. Among other things, the act:
1. requires the appealing party to also file the appeal with DOL;
2. specifies what must be included in the record and requires DOL to certify
it;
3. sets a process for the appealing party to request corrections for findings in
the record;
4. generally limits what the court may consider in the appeal to certain factors
(e.g., whether DOL incorrectly applied the law to the facts it found); and
5. specifies what actions the court may take in deciding the appeal.
Existing law, unchanged by the act, also requires DOL to adopt regulations on
procedural rules for the disposition of the appeals.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2024
APPEALS PROCESS
Filing the Appeal
Under the act, DOL’s initial decision becomes final on the 31st calendar day
after DOL sends a written copy of it to each party. For timely appeals before then,
the appealing party must file the original appeal with DOL and state the grounds
for seeking the review. Within 14 calendar days after that, DOL must electronically
file or mail the original appeal to the Superior Court clerk and send a copy to each
party listed in the appealed decision by mail or electronically through the
department’s Leave Complaint and Appeal Portal. The clerk must docket the appeal
as returned to the next return day after receiving it.
For these appeals, the act requires DOL to certify the record to the court. The
record must include (1) the notice of appeal to DOL, (2) the file record, (3) DOL’s
findings of fact and decision, and (4) any documents submitted to DOL before the O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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appeal was filed. If the court requests it, DOL must also prepare and verify a
transcript of the DOL hearing (if one was held).
The act requires the appealing party to claim the appeal for the court’s short
calendar unless the court orders it to be placed on the trial list. For these
proceedings, exceptions to DOL’s rulings do not have to have been made or
entered, and no bond may be required for entering an appeal to the Superior Court.
If one of the parties is not represented by counsel and the appealing party does not
claim the case for the short calendar or trial within a reasonable time after the return
day, then the court may dismiss the appeal on its own motion, or the party ready to
proceed may move for nonsuit or default.
Court Guidelines
Under the act, the court must hear the appeal upon the certified copy of the
record DOL filed. The court cannot retry the facts or hear any evidence other than
DOL’s certified record. The court must limit its review to determining whether (1)
DOL’s findings should be corrected or (2) there is any evidence in the record to
support in law the conclusions reached. The court cannot substitute its judgment
for DOL’s about the weight of the evidence on questions of fact. It may only
determine whether (1) DOL’s decision incorrectly applied the law to the facts found
or (2) the decision is clearly erroneous and could not have reasonably or logically
followed from the evidence in DOL’s certified record. The court may only correct
DOL’s findings if (1) DOL refused to find a material fact that was an admitted or
undisputed fact, (2) the finding of a fact is in language of doubtful meaning so that
its real significance may be unclear, or (3) DOL found a material fact without
evidence.
Motions to Correct Findings
The act allows an appealing party to request that a DOL finding be corrected on
appeal by filing a motion for the correction with DOL within 14 calendar days after
the record has been filed in the Superior Court, unless DOL extends the deadline
for cause. The motion must include portions of the evidence the appealing party
deems relevant and material to the corrections requested. DOL must file the motion
and its decision with the court within a reasonable time upon receiving it. If the
court denies the motion in whole or in part, and the denial is appealed, DOL must,
within a reasonable time, file copies of evidence filed by the appealing party and
any additional evidence that may have been brought before DOL.
Court Decisions
Under the act, unless the court orders otherwise after a motion and hearing, the
court’s final decision must be the decision for all parties to the original proceeding
before DOL. When an appeal is taken to the Superior Court, the court clerk must
(1) notify DOL in writing about any action the court takes on it and the appeal’s
disposition, whether by judgment, remand, withdrawal, or otherwise, and (2) give O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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DOL a copy of the decision when the appeal is decided.
The act allows the court to remand the case to DOL for (1) proceedings de novo
(from the beginning), (2) further proceedings on the record, or (3) any limited
purposes the court may set. The court may keep jurisdiction by ordering that the
proceedings conducted under the court’s order be returned to the court, or it may
order final disposition. A party aggrieved by a final disposition made in compliance
with a Superior Court order may ask the court to review the case’s disposition by
filing an appropriate motion.
Any party aggrieved by the Superior Court’s decision may appeal it to the state
Appellate Court just as the law allows for administrative appeals.