Minnesota’s earned sick and safe leave law applies to any employer with at least one employee in the state and any employees (including temporary and part-time employees) who work at least eighty hours in Minnesota in a year, subject to certain industry specific exceptions.
Under this law, employers have the following options:
- Accrual with carryover: Have employees accrue sick and safe leave at a minimum rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked up to 48 hours per year and carry over unused hours into the next year subject to an 80 hour cap;
- Front load with pay out and no carryover: Provide employees 48 hours at the beginning of the year (frontloaded) for immediate use and pay out unused hours at the end of the year; or
- Front load with no pay out and no carry over: Provide employees 80 hours at the beginning of the year for immediate use, without paying out unused hours at the end of the year and with no carryover
There are other requirements under the state sick and safe leave law, which you may read more about here. Some of these requirements are also detailed further below. Employers can also read up on general sick and safe leave best practices here.
Note on Localities
Prior to Minnesota passing a statewide law, four cities had paid sick and safe time ordinances.
Duluth eliminated its ordinance on the effective date of the Minnesota law.
Bloomington states that if an employer complies with the Minnesota safe and sick leave law, it complies with the Bloomington ordinance.
Minneapolis and Saint Paul also have their own paid sick and safe time ordinances. If the Minneapolis or St. Paul ordinance applies, an employer must comply with the provisions of each law that provides the most benefit to the employee.
Your sick and safe leave policy and practices should be reviewed periodically by your legal counsel for the states and localities in which your employees are working to ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, and to ensure that your policy and practices are appropriate to your particular situation.
Employee Eligibility & Use
All employees, with a few exceptions, who work 80 hours in Minnesota in a year are entitled to paid sick and safe leave. Employees may use earned sick and safe time for any of the following reasons:
- the employee’s mental or physical illness, treatment or preventive care;
- a family member’s mental or physical illness, treatment or preventive care;
- absence due to domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking of the employee or a family member;
- closure of the employee’s workplace due to weather or public emergency or closure of a family member’s school or care facility due to weather or public emergency; and
- when determined by a health authority or health care professional that the employee or family member is at risk of infecting others with a communicable disease.
You should review the law and resources at the bottom of this page to understand additional requirements under the Minnesota law, such as increments of use, how hours are determined for exempt and salaried employees, how pay is calculated, who is a “family member,” what type of notice and documentation an employer may require, pay statement requirements, and how sick and safe time is handled upon termination of employment.
Interaction With An Employer’s Existing Policies
An employer’s paid time off (PTO) plan or other type of paid leave (including sick or vacation time) can satisfy this law if, at a minimum, the plan meets the law’s requirements. Additionally, nothing prohibits an employer from providing more generous leave policies than the minimum required by the law.
Pay Statement Requirements
Employers are required to include the following additional information on earnings statement each pay period:
- the total number of sick and safe time hours accrued and available for use; and
- the total number of sick and safe time hours used in the pay period.
An employer cannot just tell employees how to find information about their safe and sick hours in their timekeeping system instead. The information must be included on the pay statement.
Notice Requirements
Employers must provide notice to all employees that includes at least the following information:
- employees are entitled to safe and sick leave;
- the amount of safe and sick leave they will accrue;
- the accrual year for the employee (as set by the employer);
- the terms regarding when employees may use safe and sick leave;
- a copy of any existing written policy regarding employees providing notice to use safe and sick leave;
- an explanation that retaliation for requesting or using safe and sick leave is prohibited; and
- an explanation that employees have a right to file a complaint or to bring a civil action if safe and sick leave is denied or if employees are retaliated against for requesting or using leave.
This notice needs to be provided to employees in English and the primary language of the employee. Minnesota has a sample notice available on their Workplace Notices and Posters site. Employers may post a copy of the notice at each location where employees perform work, provide a paper or electronic copy of the notice to all employees, or post the notice on a web-based or app-based platform that employees use to perform work. An employer that provides an employee handbook to its employees must also include in the handbook a copy of the required earned sick and safe time information.
If you set up a sick and safe leave policy in Justworks as PEO customer, we will automatically add this balance information to employee paystubs and it is available to your employees at any time when they log into the Justworks platform.
Limitations on Paid Sick and Safe Leave
Employees in Minnesota begin accruing sick and safe leave on their first day of work, and must be allowed to use earned sick and safe time as it is accrued.
An employer is not required to pay out accrued, unused paid sick and safe time when an employee separates from employment with the employer.
Keep in mind that if a separated employee is rehired within 180 days of separation, the employer must reinstate any previously accrued but unused sick and safe leave if it was not paid out on separation from employment.
Resources & Notes
- Help Center: Sick and Safe Leave
- Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry: Earned Sick And Safe Time
- Mineral: Minnesota Sick Leave*
*Be sure you’re logged into your Justworks account with administrative permissions to access Mineral.
Disclaimer
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal or tax advice. If you have any legal or tax questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with your professional legal or tax advisor.