Minnesota: Updates to State's Earned Sick and Safe Time Laws and Paid Family Medical Leave Laws

By David E. Goldman and Serena S. Huss - Peters & Kappenman, P.A.

June 16, 2025

On June 9, 2025, during a special session called by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a bill (SF17) passed that includes amendments to Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time (“ESST”) laws and the Minnesota Paid Leave laws. The previously worded and newly amended provisions are numerically laid out below:
 
Previous Provisions 

1.    Employers may now require an employee to give notice of the need for earned sick and safe time as soon as practicable.
2.    Employers can request documentation when an employee uses ESST for more than three consecutive days.

Amended Provisions

1.    Employers may now require employees to give notice of the need for earned sick and safe time as reasonably required by the employer.
2.    Employers may request documentation when an employee uses ESST for more than two consecutive days.

Newly added language also clarifies that the ESST laws do not prohibit an employee from voluntarily seeking or trading shifts with a replacement worker to cover the hours the employee uses as ESST.
 
In addition, there is newly added language to Minn. Stat. § 181.9448, subdivision 1(j), which states in relevant part, “An employer is permitted to advance earned sick and safe time to an employee based on the number of hours the employee is anticipated to work for the remaining portion of an accrual year. If the advanced amount is less than the amount the employee would have accrued based on the actual hours worked, the employer must provide additional earned sick and safe time to make up the difference.” Seemingly, employers may now pro-rate frontloaded employees who are hired mid-year if the employer uses a calendar year.
 
Additionally, regarding the Minnesota Paid Leave laws, Minn. Stat. § 268B.14, subdivision 7 now specifies, “In no year shall the annual premium rate exceed 1.1 percent of taxable wages paid to each employee.” Previously, the cap was 1.2 percent. As of January 1, 2026, the premium rate will be 0.88 percent of taxable wages for most employers and 0.44 percent for small employers. Under the statute, a "small employer" is defined as having thirty (30) or fewer employees and an average employee wage less than 150% of the statewide average weekly wage.
 
Practical Advice

Employers may update their employee handbooks to clarify that they can request documentation for ESST (or any ESST incorporated paid time off) after an employee uses two (2) consecutive days of leave.
 
Further, with the new standard allowing employers to require notice for ESST “as reasonably required,” employers now have more flexibility to define what adequate notice looks like in their workplace. However, employers should ensure that their policies clearly outline notice expectations, including language acknowledging that shorter notice may be acceptable when circumstances prevent earlier communication.
 
In addition, employers may revise their handbooks to allow for prorating ESST for first-year employees who are frontloaded with leave based on anticipated hours worked. However, it is essential to accurately track those employees’ actual hours throughout the year to ensure they receive at least the minimum amount of leave required by ESST law.

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