Minnesota has made several changes to its Earned Sick and Safe Time (“ESST”) law, Paid Leave program, and meal and rest break rules, as follows:
- Under the state’s Paid Leave program, which goes into effect next year, the premium rate will not be able to exceed 1.1% (down from 1.2%). After the first year of the program in 2026, when the rate will be 0.88% for most employers, the premium rate will be set annually by July 31 for the following year.
- Effective January 1, 2026, an employer must allow each employee a rest break of at least 15 minutes or enough time to utilize the nearest convenient restroom, whichever is longer, within each four consecutive hours of work. Currently, employers are required to provide “adequate time from work.”
- Effective January 1, 2026, an employer must allow each employee who is working for six or more consecutive hours a meal break of at least 30 minutes. Currently, employers are required to provide “sufficient time to eat a meal” to employers who work for eight or more consecutive hours.
- Effective August 1, 2025, under the ESST, if the need for sick and safe time is unforeseeable, an employer may require an employee to give notice of the need for earned sick and safe time as reasonably required by the employer. This is a change from “as soon as practicable.”
- Effective August 1, 2025, when an employee uses earned sick and safe time for more than two consecutive scheduled work days, an employer may require reasonable documentation that the earned sick and safe time is being used for a qualifying reason under the ESST. The two consecutive days requirement is down from the current three consecutive days.
- Effective January 1, 2026, this language has been added to the ESST: “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.”
You can access the enacted bill here.
