SICK AND SAFE LEAVE

What is Minnesota’s sick and safe leave law?

Senior man in a wheelchair with his family in the park

Minnesota’s sick and safe leave law requires employers that allow an employee to take time off for their own injury or illness to allow the employee to take time off:

to care for an ill or injured minor child, adult child, spouse, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent or stepparent in the same manner the employer would allow an employee to use the leave for themselves; and
for themselves or a relative (as listed above) to provide or receive assistance because of sexual assault, domestic abuse, stalking or harassment.

View a fact sheet about sick and safe leave requirements in English and Spanish.

Who is covered?

Employees:

who have worked for the employer for at least 12 months; and
who worked at least half-time during the past 12 months.

Employers:

that have 21 or more employees at one site; and
who offer personal sick leave benefits for absence from work due to an employee’s illness or injury.

Is sick leave paid?

The law does not require that sick leave be paid. However, if the employer provides paid time off for the illness or injury of the worker, time off for the illness or injury of a family member must also be paid.

Are employers required to offer sick leave?

In certain situations, employers are required to allow eligible employees to be absent from work under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), provisions of the Minnesota Pregnancy and Parental Leave Law or under the paid sick and safe time ordinances in Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Find more information about Duluth’s earned sick and safe time.
Find more information about Minneapolis’ sick and safe time ordinance.
Find more information about St. Paul’s earned sick and safe time.

Is paid time off (PTO), vacation time or sick time required to be paid to an employee when they leave their job?

Minnesota does not require employers to pay employees for accrued PTO, sick or vacation time when they leave their job. However, a former employee may be able to pursue payment through conciliation court if there is a handbook, policy or contract language that indicated such payment would be made to exiting employees.