CT Paid Leave Authority details IT systems, integrations and 2026 roadmap including WCAG 2.1 deadline

The authority’s IT lead, Matt, presented a high-level overview of the technical systems that run the Connecticut Paid Leave program and a roadmap of projects planned for 2026.

Matt said the program runs on a mix of custom and off-the-shelf applications — roughly 27 custom pieces integrated with about 22 standard tools — and described two main public-facing components: a public website and an authenticated employer/third-party portal. He said employers and payroll administrators use the authenticated portal for filings and payments and can submit private-plan applications there.

On vendor and integration partners, Matt listed Bank of America, Stripe and Blackthorn for contribution/payment processing and said the authenticated site uses the state enterprise identity platform (login.ct.gov) for single sign-on. He described Aflac as the authority’s claim-administration vendor, which receives single-sign-on referrals from the Authority portal for claim submission and adjudication.

Among the 2026 initiatives, Matt highlighted a near-term "coverage chronology" feature to track employer coverage periods, an accessibility initiative to meet WCAG 2.1 by April 2026, ongoing IT-security and vulnerability remediation, tech-debt and hardening work, and an effort to integrate Tableau for richer reporting. "This will allow us to keep track of those coverage periods," Matt said of coverage chronology.

Board members asked about credit-card processing fees; a member clarified that the Authority covers the merchant fees so employers are not charged. Matt said additional work later in the year will examine penalty/interest assessment and automation for private-plan annual reporting.

Matt said the Authority uses an integration platform for both batch and real-time API exchanges, and that Aflac and state agencies (DOL, DRS) are among the data partners used to validate employer status and wage records.