Paid Leave Details

Paid Leave serves two purposes: 1) payments to the employee that covers a portion of the employee’s usual pay during their leave; and 2) ensure job protection to an employee who has worked for at least 90 days prior to taking leave when they return from leave. It is a social insurance program. That means both employees and employers contribute premiums for the Paid Leave benefit.

In an attempt to make things easier for employers, Paid Leave uses the same online reporting system as Unemployment Insurance (UI). Beginning on January 1, 2026, employers will start collecting the employee’s portion of the premium from the employee. Employers will submit the Paid Leave premium amounts to UI (or the private plan) on a quarterly basis, but after the quarter has ended. Quarterly payments are due on April 30, 2026 for first quarter, July 31, 2026 for second quarter, October 31, 2026 for third quarter and January 31, 2027 for fourth quarter. If a due date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the due date is the following business day.

Step 1: Employers must register for an employer account through the UI system’s Paid Leave (even if you have a private plan), designate a paid leave administrator in your employer account, and create a paid leave administrator account.

Step 2: a) Employers need to decide if they are going to use the State of Minnesota Paid Leave program or if they are going to use a private plan, and if they are using a private plan, they need to apply to the State of Minnesota to obtain approval of the private plan and an exemption from using the State’s plan. b) In addition, an employer must decide how to split the premium costs. At a minimum, employers must cover at least 50 percent of the premium costs. The percentage not covered by an employer is then deducted from an employee’s paycheck to meet the 100% premium. c) You need to set up a clear notification process for employees who will apply for Paid Leave. This process needs to include who the employee will notify and how they will notify that individual(s). d) Since Paid Leave covers only part of an employee’s wages, an employer has to decide if they are going to allow certain other benefits – including vacation, sick time and paid time off – to cover the remaining portion of an employee’s wages. If you decide not to allow other benefits to be used to supplement payments, employees who want to receive their full, usual wage while on leave will need to use their vacation, sick time or other paid time off instead of Paid Leave. e) employers need to decide on a policy regarding intermittent leave. Under Paid Leave, employees can take leave in small blocks of time rather than all at once. You need to decide the shortest block of time an employee can use. You also should decide how much leave time can be taken as intermittent leave. A full-time 40 hours a week employee, for example, can take up to 480 hours of leave intermittently each year. If someone qualifies to take up to the maximum 20 weeks of leave in a year, you can decide if that additional time can be taken intermittently, or if it must be taken in one continuous block.

Step 3: By December 1, 2025, so prior to December 1, 2025, you must have individually notified employees of Paid Leave and display the Paid Leave poster in a place where employees can easily see it. The notice must be in English and any other language that at least five of your workers speak as their primary language if it is other than English. Minnesota Paid Leave website has the English posters for this notification and will have it in other languages.

Paid Leave and Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) are two separate programs that are mandatory. You must offer both Paid Leave and ESST and follow the separate requirements of each program.

Spangler and de Stefano, PLLP advises business owners about Paid Leave, ESST and other employer obligations.

The material contained herein is for informational purposes only, and is not intended to create or constitute an attorney-client relationship between Spangler and de Stefano, PLLP and the reader. The information contained herein is not offered as legal advice and should not be construed as legal advice.