Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave program
Minnesota enacted a state-administered paid family and medical leave insurance program under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 268B. The program provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave per year for their own serious health condition (including pregnancy), up to 12 weeks of paid family leave for bonding, caregiving, military exigency, or safety reasons, with a combined maximum of 20 weeks in a benefit year. Benefits became available January 1, 2026, and are funded by a payroll premium shared between employers and employees. The program is administered by the Family and Medical Benefits Insurance Division within the Department of Employment and Economic Development.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 268B.01 et seq.
Earned sick and safe time — accrual and use requirements
Minnesota requires employers to provide earned sick and safe time (ESST) to employees anticipated to work at least 80 hours per year in the state. Employees accrue one hour of ESST for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 48 hours of ESST in a year unless the employer agrees to a higher amount. Accrual begins at the commencement of employment, and employees may use ESST as it is accrued. Employers must permit carryover of unused ESST into the following year; the total amount of accrued but unused ESST may not exceed 80 hours at any time unless the employer agrees to a higher amount. The law became effective January 1, 2024.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 181.9446
Earned sick and safe time — permitted uses
Minnesota law specifies six categories of permitted uses for earned sick and safe time (ESST) under Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subdivision 1. Employees may use accrued ESST for any of these qualifying reasons without employer discretion to deny the request based on the category of use.
Own health and bereavement needs
Employees may use ESST for (1) their own mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; (2) medical diagnosis, care, or treatment; (3) preventive medical or health care; or (4) 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. The bereavement use was added by 2024 amendments and applies to deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2024.
Family member care
Employees may use ESST to care for a family member (1) with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; (2) who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment; or (3) who needs preventive medical or health care. "Family member" is defined broadly under Minn. Stat. § 181.9445, subd. 7, and includes not only biological and legal relatives (parent, child, spouse, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, stepparents, stepchildren) but also any individual the employee is responsible for providing care to, and one individual designated annually by the employee.
Safety leave — domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking
ESST may be used for absences due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking of the employee or the employee's family member, provided the absence is to: (1) seek medical attention related to physical or psychological injury or disability caused by such violence; (2) obtain services from a victim services organization; (3) obtain psychological or other counseling; (4) seek relocation or take steps to secure an existing home; or (5) seek legal advice or participate in legal proceedings.
Closure due to weather or public emergency
Employees may use ESST when (1) the employee's place of business is closed by order of a public official due to a public emergency, or (2) the employee needs to care for a family member whose school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official due to a public emergency. Under Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subd. 1(c), a "public emergency" includes a declared emergency as defined in Minn. Stat. § 12.03 or a declared local emergency under Minn. Stat. § 12.29.
Limited exception for essential workers during emergencies
Notwithstanding the general right to use ESST for weather or public-emergency closures, certain essential workers may not use ESST under those conditions if their preassigned duties require them to respond to the emergency. This exception applies only to firefighters, peace officers subject to licensure under Minn. Stat. §§ 626.84 to 626.863, 911 telecommunicators, correctional facility guards, and public employees holding a commercial driver's license, and only when specific collective bargaining or policy conditions are met under Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subd. 1(c).
Communicable disease
Employees may use ESST when determined by a health authority or health care professional that the employee or the employee's family member is at risk of infecting others with a communicable disease, even if the individual does not have symptoms requiring medical care.
Employers may not limit ESST use to a subset of these categories or impose additional conditions beyond those specified in the statute. Any employer policy that purports to restrict ESST use more narrowly than Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subd. 1, is unenforceable.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 181.9447
Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave — Financial Eligibility Requirements for Employees
To establish a benefit account and qualify for Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) benefits, an employee must meet a financial eligibility test based on past earnings in "covered employment." Under Minn. Stat. § 268B.04, subd. 2(a), an employee must have earned wages equal to at least 5.3% of the state’s average annual wage during their "base period" or, if needed, their "alternate base period."
Base Period and Alternate Base Period The "base period" is, by cross-reference to the state’s unemployment insurance statute, defined as the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the application for PFML benefits (Minn. Stat. § 268B.01, subd. 4; see also Minn. Stat. § 268.035, subd. 4). If the employee did not earn enough in the standard base period, the "alternate base period" means the most recent four completed calendar quarters prior to the application, tracked exactly as set out for unemployment benefits (Minn. Stat. § 268B.01, subd. 4; Minn. Stat. § 268.07, subd. 2(b)).
Wage Credit Threshold The statute sets the threshold as 5.3% of Minnesota’s "average annual wage"—a figure recalculated each year and published by the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), as defined in Minn. Stat. § 268.035, subd. 24. For reference only (not statutory): if the state average annual wage were $60,000, the minimum wage credit to qualify would be $3,180. The precise minimum adjusts annually according to the new published average wage.
Covered Employment and Exclusions Only wages earned in "covered employment" under PFML count towards this threshold. "Covered employment" is defined in Minn. Stat. § 268B.01, subd. 18. Excluded from coverage are, among others, certain categories such as self-employment, some types of agricultural labor, federal employment, and other statutorily specified work not subject to the PFML insurance premium. For a full list of exclusions, practitioners should review § 268B.01, subd. 18 in detail.
Effective Date The PFML eligibility rules and wage threshold take effect on January 1, 2026, with benefits available for leave events beginning on or after that date.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 268B.04, subd. 2; Minn. Stat. § 268B.01; Minn. Stat. § 268.035
Minnesota PFML — definition of covered employment (Minn. Stat. § 268B.01, subd. 15)
Under the Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program, an employee's work only counts toward financial eligibility if it is performed in “covered employment,” as defined by Minn. Stat. § 268B.01, subd. 15. This definition determines whose wages count toward qualifying for benefits and who must be covered by the state's PFML insurance system.
Broad default inclusion Covered employment means any service by an individual—whether full-time, part-time, permanent or temporary, and regardless of the legal form of the employment relationship—performed for wages or under contract (written or oral; express or implied). It does not rely on the common-law "master–servant" classification (subd. 15(a)).
Three-path geographic test The statute lays out a geographic framework (subd. 15(b)) for determining whether a given service counts as Minnesota covered employment. Any of the following are sufficient:
- The employee performs at least 50% of their work during a calendar year in Minnesota; or
- The employee performs less than 50% of their work in Minnesota but resides in Minnesota and performs some work here; or
- The employee’s work is primarily directed or controlled from Minnesota (for instance, by a Minnesota-based employer), even if most work is performed elsewhere.
Key statutory exclusions Not counted as covered employment: work performed by independent contractors, self-employed individuals, and those classified as seasonal employees under program rules (subd. 15(c)). However, certain excluded individuals or entities may elect coverage by following the commissioner's opt-in procedures (subd. 15(d)).
Further clarifications and any additional exclusions may be implemented via formal rulemaking (subd. 15(e)).
Source: Minn. Stat. § 268B.01, subd. 15
When may employees use accrued ESST (no waiting period required)
Minnesota law allows employees to use earned sick and safe time (ESST) as it is accrued, with no statutory waiting period for use. Under Minn. Stat. § 181.9446(e), "Employees may use earned sick and safe time as it is accrued." This means that as soon as an employee has accrued ESST—at the rate of one hour per 30 hours worked—the employee may use those hours for any of the qualifying reasons provided by law, subject only to the employer's standard notice and documentation requirements (discussed elsewhere in this guide).
For example, if an employee works 60 hours in their first two weeks and accrues 2 hours of ESST, those hours are available for immediate use as needed, even within the first month of employment. The statute does not authorize employers to impose a probationary or waiting period before allowing use of accrued ESST. Employers are free to adopt more generous policies (such as front-loading ESST at the start of employment), but they cannot withhold use of accrued hours.
The Department of Labor and Industry confirms this immediate use requirement in its ESST guidance.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 181.9446(e)
Earned sick and safe time — increments for ESST use (minimum and maximum)
Minnesota law requires that employees be allowed to use Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) in the same increments that the employer uses to account for pay or other leave, but subject to strict minimum and maximum increment requirements. Specifically, an employer may not require an employee to use ESST in increments smaller than 15 minutes or larger than four hours. This means:
- If the employer's payroll system or leave-accounting policy uses 15-minute, 30-minute, or one-hour increments, employees must be permitted to use ESST in those same increments, but not forced to use less than 15 minutes at a time or more than four hours at once.
- For example, if an employee needs one hour and 15 minutes for a medical appointment, and the employer tracks time in 15-minute increments, the employee can use one hour and 15 minutes of ESST (rounded per the employer's usual method), but could not be made to take, say, two or four whole hours.
- These rules are categorical: the statute does not allow employer policy or practice to override them. Any contrary employer requirement is unenforceable.
The increment rules are set forth at Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subd. 5. This provision became effective January 1, 2024, the same date as the rest of the ESST framework.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subd. 5
Coordination and notice requirements for concurrent PFML, ESST, and FMLA leave
Minnesota law overlays two major state leave rights—Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) (Minn. Stat. Ch. 268B, effective for benefits beginning January 1, 2026) and Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) (Minn. Stat. §§ 181.9445–181.9448)—on top of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). When an employee’s event qualifies under multiple laws, employers must coordinate leave banks, designate concurrency, and provide required notices as detailed below.
PFML and FMLA concurrency and notice: Minnesota’s PFML law permits (but does not require) employers to run PFML and FMLA concurrently if the leave event qualifies under both laws. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) FAQ confirms: “employers may require employees to take PFML and FMLA at the same time if the employee is eligible for both types of leave for the same event.” There is no Minnesota statute mandating or prohibiting concurrent use, but federal FMLA rules (29 U.S.C. § 2612(d)(1)) explicitly allow employers to require paid leave—such as PFML—to run concurrent with FMLA.
Employers wishing to require concurrent use must clearly designate the leave as running under both PFML and FMLA for the same event. Under FMLA regulations (29 C.F.R. § 825.300(d)), the employer must provide a written designation notice, informing the employee that the leave counts against both the PFML and FMLA entitlements. Minnesota PFML law (Minn. Stat. § 268B.34, subd. 2) also requires employers to provide a DEED-prescribed written notice at hire and annually, explaining PFML rights and how PFML coordinates with FMLA and other benefits. There is no requirement for a written employee election; concurrency is based on the employer’s designation, not employee choice.
ESST sequencing and notice/election: By contrast, ESST (Minn. Stat. § 181.9446(d)) is “in addition to and separate from other leave benefits provided by employer or required by state or federal law.” Employers cannot require employees to exhaust ESST before using FMLA or PFML, nor can they require stacking, sequencing, or substitution in the other direction. The employee may choose to use ESST concurrently with other leaves if both banks are available, but Minnesota law does not prescribe any election form, nor does it require any special notice from the employer beyond the standard ESST policy disclosures.
Summary Table:
- PFML + FMLA: Employers may require concurrency, but must formally designate and notify the employee; no employee written election required.
- ESST + FMLA/PFML: ESST is a separate right; concurrency is permitted if the employee elects, but cannot be mandated, and no special notice or sequencing rule applies.
Source: DEED PFML FAQ; Minn. Stat. § 268B.34; Minn. Stat. § 181.9446; 29 C.F.R. § 825.300(d); 29 U.S.C. § 2612(d)