Perspectives
How Would Proposed Changes to Minnesota Employment Law Impact Your Business?
Minnesota lawmakers have advanced a bill that would create a new state-backed family and medical leave program, which guarantees paid time off for the roughly 75% of MN workers that currently don’t already have access to the benefit. This new law aims to take some of the cost and risk associated with employee leave off of employers, but what does that mean for your business?
What would the new policy entail?
The law proposes providing up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement for medical leave (including pregnancy). The law also proposes providing up to 12 weeks partial wage replacement for family leave, including for a new baby or seriously ill relative.
What would the benefits be?
The law would replace wages on a progressive scale at 90%-55% of an employer’s salary (66% on average), while protecting job healthcare benefits.
Who would foot the bill?
The cost for providing leave would be handled by creating a large statewide risk pool to attempt to equally share costs between employers and employees, with both contributing 0.31% on employee earnings.
Who is going to do the paperwork?
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development would handle payments and administration on behalf of employers.
Who will be entitled to this benefit?
All working Minnesotans, including small business owners and those who are self-employed would be eligible for leave. The leave would be job-protected, including a right to be reinstated after the completion of leave, and retaliation is prohibited.
Key Components of MN’s proposed family leave policy:
This proposed policy has NOT been passed by Minnesota law makers yet, so there is no need to make any changes to your employee policies at this time. The information here is not legal advice, and you should not take, or refrain from taking action based on information here. If you have additional questions about this policy, or would like to work with the WFJ Employment Law and Human Resources team to develop your internal policy now-visit our Support Services page to request a consultation, or give us a call!