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The Minnesota DFL House and Senate passed a bill along party lines that will mandate that businesses of all sizes provide employees up to 48 hours of paid sick time each year starting January 1, 2024.
Called the (earned sick and safe time) bill, employees will make one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours of work. The sick leave is capped at 48 hours per year and can be carried over to the following year, and workers can bank up to 80 hours.
Sick and safe time can be used if an employee is ill or needs to care for a family member or seeks assistance if they or a family member has experienced domestic abuse, sexual stalking, or sexual abuse. In addition, it can be used for preventive care, a public emergency, or the closure of a family member’s school or care facility due to weather or a public emergency.
Employees qualify for the benefit if they work 80 hours or more per year for an employer and are not independent contractors.
Part-time and temporary employees qualify for safe or sick time. Still, this provision does not apply to building and construction employees represented by a construction and building trades labor organization.
Businesses will have to absorb the cost of the new plan. For example, if an employee takes more than three consecutive days off, a company could ask for documentation showing why that worker needs that time off.
Paid family leave
On May 24, Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz signed a bill into law requiring employers to provide paid family leave to employees.
The law will take effect in 2026.
Under provisions of the paid family and medical law, workers will receive up to 12 weeks off with partial pay to recover from injury or illness and up to 12 weeks to care for a newborn or sick family member. An employee who takes advantage of both will be capped at 20 weeks.
A provision of the new law states that workers can use sick leave to care for a family member or because school is closed due to weather or they are recovering from an illness or injury. They (workers) can also use paid time off to receive assistance because of sexual assault, domestic abuse, stalking, or harassment, among other things.
Rep. Liz Olson, DFDL-Duluth, was the bill’s lead author. In a statement to the press, Olson said, “This bill ensures that the 900,000 Minnesotans who currently don’t have access to a single paid day off… would be able to have that human dignity of being able to stay at home with a sick kid, to take care of themselves or a loved one.”
Both Duluth and Minneapolis have similar bills, only each city has a provision exempting businesses with fewer than six or fewer workers, but companies must allow those workers unpaid time off if needed.
Minnesota now joins 12 other states with similar laws, although most of those states exempt businesses from the provision if they have five or fewer employees.
House Republicans offered amendments to the bill, but all were rejected. Some of those exceptions were to exempt businesses that have fewer than 26 employees and exempt workers who are employed less than 20 hours per week.
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce argued that the paid leave mandate would raise taxes on businesses by more than $1 billion, but that argument was also rejected.
Employers will be required to keep track of the earned sick leave and, if the policy isn’t followed, could be fined as much as $10,000 by the state.
Funding for the benefits will come from a .07 percent payroll tax, half paid by the employer and half deducted from an employee’s wage.
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