Leave laws, regulations, and ordinances continue to change in Minnesota. The city of Duluth, Minnesota, repealed its Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) ordinance effective Jan. 17, 2024. The Duluth ESST had guaranteed paid leave for qualifying employees working in the city since Jan. 1, 2020. Minnesota’s statewide ESST statute
Articles Discussing Minnesota Wage & Hour Claims.
Guidance Interpreting Minnesota’s New Earned Sick and Safe Time Law
Minnesota’s statewide paid sick and safe leave mandate, the Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) law, went into effect Jan. 1, 2024. The Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) has posted answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ Guide) that it revised on Dec. 4, 2023.
Bloomington Amends Sick and Safe Time Ordinance to Align With Minnesota’s Sick and Safe Time Law
The City Council for the City of Bloomington, Minnesota, has adopted amendments to its Sick and Safe Time Ordinance (previously called the Sick and Safe Leave Time Ordinance). The amendments, Ordinance No. 2023-24 § 23.05, will go in effect on January 1, 2024.
Although Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time
Minnesota Adds Statewide Paid Sick and Safe Leave Starting on January 1, 2024
On May 24, 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed into law an omnibus jobs and economic development bill that included, among its many workplace-related provisions, the establishment of a statewide paid sick leave program, effective on January 1, 2024.
Bloomington Becomes the Fourth City in Minnesota to Require Paid Sick and Safe Leave
The City of Bloomington, Minnesota is the latest city in Minnesota to join the cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth in enacting an Earned Sick and Safe Leave ordinance (ORDINANCE NO. 2022-31). The Ordinance, which largely mirrors the requirements of the City of Minneapolis’ Sick and Safe Time Ordinance
Bloomington, Minnesota, Passes Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance
On June 6, 2022, after a year of public meetings and feedback, the Bloomington City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that will require employers in the city to provide paid sick and safe leave to most workers.
New Obligations for Frontline Sector Employers through Minnesota’s Frontline Worker Pay Program
On April 29, 2022, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed S.F. No. 2677 (2022) into law. This law authorizes bonus payments to Minnesotans who worked in frontline sectors during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency. This so-called “Hero Pay” law aims to thank eligible frontline workers for their sacrifices and hard work during the
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Posts Approved Employer Notice for Frontline Worker Pay Law
On June 7, 2022, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MNDOLI) issued its long-awaited approved employer notice regarding requirements under the Frontline Worker Pay Law.
Updates to Minnesota’s Frontline Worker Pay Law
As expected, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry recently provided an update regarding the new Frontline Worker Pay Law by distributing a fact sheet and a set of answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).
Analyzing and Responding to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Investigations into Employer Pay Practices
The Minnesota Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the Minnesota attorney general’s broad power to investigate Wage Theft Act and alleged pay practice violations.
Minnesota Employer’s Handbook Disclaimer Fails on PTO Policy Under Wage Payment Statute
Minnesota employers will be heading back to the drawing board to revise their handbook disclaimers. The Minnesota Supreme Court now requires specific language in policies that set out the terms and conditions for payment of certain employee benefits such as payouts of vacation and paid time off (PTO).
City of Minneapolis Expands Wage Theft Protections to Independent Contractors Beginning 2021
Effective January 1, 2021, the City of Minneapolis Freelance Worker Protection Ordinance expands wage theft protections to independent contractors who perform services within the City of Minneapolis.
Minnesota Supreme Court Holds Minneapolis Minimum Wage Ordinance to Be Lawful
The Minnesota Supreme Court, the state’s highest appellate court, has upheld a minimum wage ordinance enacted by the City of Minneapolis in 2017, providing for a higher minimum wage than that provided by state law. Graco, Inc. v. City of Minneapolis, 2020 Minn. App. LEXIS 12 (Minn. Jan. 20, 2020).
Minneapolis Minimum Wage to Reach $15 an Hour by 2024
All employers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, must pay their employees at least $15.00 an hour by July 1, 2024, under a minimum wage ordinance approved by the Minneapolis City Council on June 30, 2017. The ordinance applies to anyone who works in Minneapolis for any amount of time.
When Paying Accrued “Vacation” at Termination, Labels Don’t Matter [Wage & Hour FAQs]
In recent years, I have noticed a movement away from the traditional categories of “vacation” and “sick” leave and holidays to hybrids like PTO, holiday hours, and personal days. While those new categories provide greater flexibility to employees and apparent ease as to record-keeping, they also complicate the question for employers about whether those accrued leave categories have to be paid out when an employee leaves the job. Some states make it easy, like Minnesota. Back in 2007, the Minnesota Supreme Court held in Lee v. Fresenius Medical Care, Inc., that, under Minnesota law, whether benefits like accrued vacation or PTO are due is “wholly contractual.”