Minnesota Amends Paid Sick Leave Law

Effective date

Changes

May 25, 2024

The paid sick leave law covers all employees (including temporary and part-time employees), who are anticipated by the employer to perform work for at least 80 hours in a year for that employer in Minnesota.

The law doesn’t cover:

• An independent contractor;
• An individual who is a volunteer firefighter or paid on-call firefighter, with a department charged with the prevention or suppression of fires within the boundaries of the state; is a volunteer ambulance attendant; or is an ambulance service personnel, who serves in a paid on-call position;
• Individuals who are elected officials or a person who is appointed to fill a vacancy in an elected office as part of a legislative or governing body of Minnesota or a political subdivision; or
• An individual employed by a farmer, family farm, or a family farm corporation to provide physical labor on or management of a farm if the farmer, family farm, or family farm corporation employs the individual to perform work for 28 days or less each year.
  
  

Effective date

Changes

May 25, 2024

July 1, 2024

Employers are no longer required to provide information about an employee's paid sick leave hours available for use and hours used during the pay period on wage statements or paychecks.

Instead, effective July 1, 2024, employers may choose a reasonable system for providing this information, including but not limited to listing information on or attached to each wage statement or an
electronic system where employees can access this information.

An employer who chooses to provide this information by electronic means must provide employees with access to an employer-owned computer during an employee's regular working hours to review and print the information.

The records must be kept by employers for three years.

Effective date

Changes

May 25, 2024

Employees who use paid sick leave must be paid at the same base rate they earn when they are working.

“Base rate" means:

· For employees paid on an hourly basis, the same rate received per hour of work;

· For employees paid on an hourly basis who receive multiple hourly rates, the rate the employee would have been paid for the period of time in which leave was taken;

· For employees paid on a salary basis, the same rate guaranteed to the employee as if the employee had not taken the leave; and

· For employees paid solely on a commission, piecework, or any basis other than hourly or salary, a rate no less than the applicable local, state, or federal minimum wage, whichever is greater.

Base rate does not include: commissions, shift differentials that are in addition to an hourly rate, premium payments for overtime work, premium payments for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or scheduled days off, bonuses, or gratuities.

Note:In no case may this base rate be less than provided under the Minnesota Minimum Wage law or an applicable minimum wage.

Effective date

Changes

May 25, 2024

An employee may also use the paid sick leave when they need to make arrangements for or attend funeral services or a memorial, or address financial or legal matters that arise after the death of a family member.

This is in addition to previously covered leave for:

• 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 healthcare professional that the employee or family member is at risk of infecting others with a communicable disease.
  

July 1, 2024

Employees are prohibited from using paid sick leave for weather-related events if their work duties require them to respond to a weather event and the employee is a firefighter, peace officer, 911 telecommunicator, correctional facility guard, or a public employee with a commercial driver’s license and certain conditions are met.

Effective date

Changes

May 25, 2024

Reasonable documentation may be required for absences of more than three consecutivescheduledworkdays. However, if documentation cannot be obtained in a reasonable time or without added expense, then reasonable documentation may include a written statement from the employee indicating that the employee is using or used paid sick leave for a qualifying purpose

Effective date

Changes

May 25, 2024

Paid sick leave may be used in the same increment of time for which employees are paid, provided an employer isn’t required to provide leave in less than 15-minute increments nor can the employer require use of leave in more than four-hour increments.