In the last couple years, Minnesota has seen some significant changes in the field of employment law. You are likely aware of many of these, but with amendments to the law, clarifications and guidances offered by the department, and new laws on the horizon, here’s what you should have on your radar:
- Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)
Minnesota’s ESST law was expanded to include time off to arrange and to attend funerals. Employees can also use their accrued time for vacations, if they so choose.
The legislature further clarified that while employees do accrue ESST hours while working overtime, shift differentials, and holidays, their ESST pay—once they take their time off—is purely based on their “base rate,” which does not include what they earned while working that overtime, etc. Neither does it include what they might have earned in gratuities, commissions, or bonuses.
Future amendments and clarifications to ESST are possible. You can keep up to date here.
- Pregnancy and Parenting Leave
Minnesota’s Pregnancy and Parenting Leave Act (MPPLA) provides that an employer with 1 or more employees working in Minnesota must provide its employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, prenatal care, or incapacity due to pregnancy, childbirth or related health conditions. Employees may use their accrued ESST during parenting leave so at least some of the leave is paid; however, using ESST does not extend the length of the parenting leave, which is capped at 12 weeks.
Note, however, that if an employee uses ESST for prenatal care, that leave does not count against the 12-weeks of parenting leave. To learn more about the MPPLA, you can read about it here.
- Paid Family Medical Leave
Commencing January 1, 2026, Minnesota will require all employers to provide 12 weeks of paid family medical leave (PFML) to their employees for serious health conditions or for bonding with a child, for military-related events, and for personal safety issues.
While the 12 weeks of paid leave will be provided for each type of leave, the total annual leave will be capped at 20 weeks.
A health care provider or authorized professional will have to certify the employee’s need for PFML and the amount of time required to be off work. PFML includes job protection.
PFML will be run like the state’s unemployment insurance with employers and employees paying premiums into the state.
The actual paid-leave benefit will be a percentage of the employee’s weekly wage, the percentage being dependent upon how the employee’s wages compare to the state average.
Employees will be able to use their ESST concurrently to supplement any gap in pay created by the percentage system.
For more information, read about it here.
Again, there has been a lot of activity in Minnesota’s employment laws of late. Amendments, clarifications, and future guidances are inevitable. It is important for employers—and employees for that matter—to stay up to date.