HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut has become the first state to require private employers to give workers paid sick leave, Legal Alerts reports. Gov. Dannel Malloy signed An Act Mandating Employers Provide Paid Sick Leave to Employees, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2012.

The law affects most businesses with 50 or more workers in the state. Exemptions are provided for manufacturers and tax-exempt groups that provide childcare, educational or recreational services. Workers who do not fall under the Fair Labor Standards Act minimum wage and overtime standards would not be eligible for the coverage, as would be day and temporary employees.

Companies that fall under the act must give up to 40 hours per year of paid leave to "service workers," which are employees paid on an hourly basis and working in any occupational titles used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification System.

Employees who are covered under the act will get one hour of paid sick leave for each 40 hours on the job. Those workers can use that leave once 680 hours of work has been completed after Jan. 1, 2012.

Businesses cannot take any "retaliatory personnel action" or discriminate against any worker who uses or asks to use paid sick leave.