Effective January 1, 2024, Minnesota is implementing an earned sick and safe time law, which mandates employers to offer paid leave to their employees in the state.
Who Qualifies for Sick and Safe Time?
To be eligible for sick and safe time, employees must meet two criteria:
- They should work at least 80 hours in a year for a Minnesota employer and must not be classified as independent contractors.
- Temporary and part-time employees are included, but certain building and construction industry workers, represented by labor organizations with waivers, may be exempt from these requirements.
Accruing Sick and Safe Time
Employees in Minnesota will earn one hour of sick and safe time for every 30 hours worked, with a maximum annual limit of 48 hours unless the employer chooses to provide a higher amount.
Fair Compensation for Sick and Safe Time
Sick and safe time should be compensated at the same hourly rate as the employee’s regular working hours.
Approved Uses of Sick and Safe Time
Earned sick and safe time can be utilized for specific purposes, including the employee’s own illness, caring for a sick family member, seeking help due to domestic abuse, or during emergency closures of the workplace or family care facilities.
Covered Family Members
Employees may use earned sick and safe time to care for various family members, such as children, spouses, siblings, grandparents, and others with close associations.
Additional Responsibilities for Employers
Apart from providing one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a minimum of 48 hours per year, employers must also fulfill additional requirements. This includes incorporating earned sick and safe time details on employee earnings statements, providing written notices to employees in English and their primary language (if different), and adding a sick and safe time notice to the employee handbook, if one exists.
Current Local Ordinances for Sick and Safe Time
Certain cities in Minnesota, like Bloomington, Duluth, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, already have their own sick and safe time ordinances. However, when the statewide earned sick and safe time law takes effect on January 1, 2024, employers must adhere to the most protective law for their employees, be it the city-specific ordinance or the statewide law, based on their location and specific employee situation.
To promote widespread compliance, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry will provide a standard employee notice in the five most commonly spoken languages in the state.
Resources:
Fact Sheets
