Gov. Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut has just signed the first state law in the U.S. requiring private employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave.

Connecticut’s new law, “An Act Mandating Employers Provide Paid Sick Leave to Employees,” goes into effect January 1, 2012. The Act applies to most employers employing 50 or more individuals in the state; manufacturers and tax-exempt organizations that provide recreation, child care, and educational services are exempt.

Covered employers must provide up to 40 hours per year of paid leave to “service workers,” defined in the Act as employees paid on an hourly basis and working in any of 68 occupational titles taken from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification System. Workers exempt from Fair Labor Standards Act minimum wage and overtime standards (generally, managers, professionals, salespeople, and certain computer professionals) are excluded from coverage, as are day and temporary workers.