New MN law for businesses with employees
A big change is coming January 1, 2024, and we want to make sure you know about it!
This new MN law is called Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST).
Starting January 1, 2024, ALL employees who work at least 80 hours per year in Minnesota must receive at least one hour of paid sick and safe time for every 30 hours they work.
ESST applies to ALL employers.
Whether you have 1 employee or 10,000, you’ll be required to provide paid ESST, This applies no matter if they work full-time, part-time or are temporary workers.
Minimum requirement
Employees can earn at least 48 hours per year, and will be allowed to carry over up to at least 80 hours year to year. This will be the minimum requirement.
If you are already providing more time than this, or you plan to do so through a separate paid time off (PTO) plan, you may already be fulfilling this requirement.
There are a lot of details to how the ESST works. Here are some quick facts:
Effective: Jan 1, 2024
Employee must work 80 hours per year in Minnesota.
Accrual begins on their first day of work.
You must provide at least 1 hour of ESST for every 30 hours worked (that’s 0.0333/hr).
Employees have the ability to earn at least 48 hours per year.
Employees’ accrual is maxed out at 80 hours.
Time must be paid out at the employee’s current hourly rate.
ESST only be used for specific purposes – mostly related to sickness, safety, emergency workplace closures, etc.
Employee can only use ESST for themselves or specific family members.
Note: this does not include independent contractors (we knew you might be wondering).
For more specific details, you can read more on the MN Department of Labor & Industry’s website.
Current sick time ordinances
Additionally, there are specific sick time ordinances for employees working in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Bloomington and Duluth, MN. If you have employees working in any of these cities, you must follow the most strict ordinance. For example, currently in Minneapolis, employers with 5 or fewer employees must provide sick and safe time, but they may choose to provide it unpaid. However, after January 1, 2024, all employers will be required to provide paid sick time, since the State law is more strict.
Pay stubs
The last thing to mention here is that pay stubs at the end of each pay period are required to include all information required by the State of Minnesota Wage Theft Law, and must include the total number of earned sick and safe time hours accrued and available for use, as well as the total number of earned sick and safe time hours used.
What does this new law mean for you?
If you don’t already have a more generous PTO policy, you’ll need to set this up and get it rolling on your employees paychecks by January 1, 2024.
All employers will also need to notify their employees in English, or in the employee’s primary language if it isn’t English, by January 1, 2024, and include the notice in their employee handbook, if they have an employee handbook. Check out a sample notice and fact sheets in multiple languages here.
Then you’ll need to have the Earned Sick & Safe Time set up in your payroll system so you can begin the accrual process and track the use of this time benefit for your employees.
Please let us know if you have any questions and how you can get it set up in your payroll system. You can reach out to us with this link.
No assurance is given that the information provided in this blog is comprehensive in its coverage or that it’s suitable in dealing with each individual’s particular situation. This blog article exists to provide general information only and does not constitute tax or legal advice, and cannot be used or substituted for tax or legal advice. Savvy Bird Consulting, LLC is not responsible for the implementation or outcomes this material may have.