UPDATED: August 8, 2025
This guidance is designed to provide a service to employers and employees in Connecticut. It does not constitute legal advice. Although the Department of Labor makes every effort to provide quality information, it makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein.
Wage and Workplace Standards Division Notice to Employers Utilizing Earned Wage Access (EWA) Products with Their Employees
Public Act 25-155 established various requirements concerning earned but unpaid wage or salary income advances. Earned Wage Access (EWA) are advances of money on future wages or salary to employees that have been earned but not yet paid. EWA products are a way for workers to have access to their wages before payday.
Advances by Third-Party EWA providers are voluntary arrangements between workers and the EWA providers. With this arrangement, the advance is sought by the employee directly without involvement of the employer. They are outside the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL). CTDOL does not have jurisdiction over EWA providers.
Advances by Employers, however, may implicate several Connecticut wage statutes, because of our jurisdiction over the employer/employee relationship. This arrangement is often referred to as “Employer Integrated” EWA. The Wage and Workplace Standards Division (WWSD) is providing this guidance so that employers can offer these services mindful of applicable laws and regulations. WWSD takes the position that the fees associated with advances paid by Employers are payroll deductions unless a fee is not charged, or the fee is paid by the employer.
In situations where the employer passes the fee along to the worker in the form of a payroll deduction, the employer must obtain written authorization from the employee on a form approved by the Commissioner of Labor pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 31-71e. Under Public Act 25-155 advances are subject to caps of $4 per advance and $30 per month. As such, when evaluating the requested payroll deduction request for employer advance arrangements, WWSD shall not approve deductions that exceed those limits. Employers seeking to obtain authorization of the deduction may make a request to the Wage and Workplace Standards Division at Authorization for Payroll Deductions | e-Delivery Project (ecourt.com). WWSD may also assess whether the deductions reduce the employee’s wages below minimum wage and impact overtime pay.
While WWSD has taken the position that the EWA processing fee with Employer Advance EWA products is not wage scaling pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 31-74, as it is a fee for the service of a third-party processing the payment, employers must be aware that courts may find that reducing the rate of pay or any other wage deduction for advancing pay may be considered wage scaling in violation of Sec. 31-74.
Public Act 25-155 prohibits sharing of the fees between the employer and EWA company. WWSD would also disapprove of a deduction wherein the employer charged an additional fee for the advance beyond the EWA fees authorized by statute paid to the EWA company.