Senate Bill No. 235, Public Act No. 24-96, is an act concerning military leave provisions under the State Personnel Act, with an effective date of July 1, 2024. The bill revises Section 5-248 of the general statutes, allowing appointing authorities to grant leaves of absence with full pay, part pay, or without pay for up to one year, extendable with approval from the Commissioner of Administrative Services. The bill specifies that leaves of absence with pay can only be granted for educational purposes or other purposes deemed in the state's best interest. It also updates the language to be gender-neutral, replacing "his" with "the employee's."

The bill further amends provisions related to military training and service. Employees entering the armed forces are entitled to a leave of absence without pay for the duration of their service plus an additional 90 days. Full-time permanent employees who are members of the armed forces or reserve components and are required to perform ordered military training are entitled to a leave of absence with pay for not more than 15 days per year, in addition to their annual vacation. The bill also allows employees who qualify for the Olympics to take a paid leave of absence to compete. Lastly, it provides guidelines for reinstating employees who have been on authorized leave without their positions being held and allows agencies to reinstate employees who have resigned in good standing within one year to positions they previously held permanently. The language changes also include replacing "his or her" with "such employee's" and "he or she" with "such classified employee" to maintain gender neutrality.

Statutes affected:
Public Act No. 24-96: 5-248