Minnesota’s paid time off laws give nearly every worker in the state two separate sets of protections. Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) covers short absences for illness, family care, domestic-abuse needs, and weather or emergency closures. A newer state-run insurance program, Minnesota Paid Leave, took effect on January 1, 2026, and pays partial wages for up to 20 weeks a year when you need extended time off for a serious health condition, a new child, a family caregiving need, or a family member’s military deployment. The two systems run independently, and most Minnesota workers can use both.
Who Qualifies for Earned Sick and Safe Time
ESST, set out in Minnesota Statutes Sections 181.9445 through 181.9448, applies to almost every employer in the state. Any business, nonprofit, or staffing agency with at least one employee must provide it.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 181.9445 – Definitions You qualify if you’re anticipated to work at least 80 hours in a year within Minnesota. Part-time, full-time, temporary, and seasonal workers all count once they cross that threshold.
Independent contractors are not covered. Misclassifying an employee as a contractor, however, doesn’t erase the right to ESST.
How ESST Hours Accrue
You earn one hour of ESST for every 30 hours worked, starting on your first day. You can use hours as soon as you earn them. Employers must let you accrue at least 48 hours a year and may set a higher cap.2Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)
Unused hours carry over from year to year up to a bank of 80. Even so, an employer isn’t required to let you use more than 80 hours in a single year unless its own policy is more generous.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 181.9446 – Accrual of Earned Sick and Safe Time
Instead of tracking accrual hour by hour, an employer can frontload the time at the start of each year. There are two frontload options:3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 181.9446 – Accrual of Earned Sick and Safe Time
- Make 48 hours available on day one of the year and pay out any unused balance at year-end. No carryover required.
- Make 80 hours available on day one of the year. No payout and no carryover required.
When you use ESST, the smallest block your employer can require is the smallest increment its payroll system tracks, and never more than four hours at a time.4Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. ESST Employer Checklist If payroll tracks in 15-minute increments, you can use 15 minutes for a short appointment.
What You Can Use ESST For
ESST covers a wider range of situations than most workers expect. You can use it for your own physical or mental illness, injury, or health condition, including preventive care and diagnostic appointments.2Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) You can also use it to care for a family member dealing with any of the same issues.
Family is defined broadly. It includes your children (including foster and adult children), spouse or domestic partner, siblings, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, and in-laws. It also covers those same relatives of your spouse or domestic partner. On top of that, you can designate one additional person each year whose relationship is the equivalent of family, such as a close friend or roommate.2Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)
The “safe time” side of the law covers absences related to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking affecting you or a family member. That includes time to seek legal help, find new housing, get counseling, or attend court.2Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)
You can also use ESST when your workplace closes for weather or a public emergency, or when a family member’s school or care facility shuts down for the same reasons.2Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)
Notice and Documentation Rules
For foreseeable absences like a scheduled appointment or court date, your employer can require up to seven days’ advance notice.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 181.9447 – Use of Earned Sick and Safe Time For unexpected needs, you must give notice as soon as reasonably possible, usually a call or message before your shift. Your employer must have a written notice policy and provide it to you. If you never received one, the employer cannot deny leave based on a notice failure.
Documentation rules are narrower than many employers assume. Your employer can ask for reasonable documentation only when you use ESST for more than three consecutive scheduled work days.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 181.9447 – Use of Earned Sick and Safe Time A doctor’s note is acceptable, but you cannot be required to disclose a specific diagnosis. For a safe-time absence, documentation might be a police report, court record, or statement from a victim services organization. For a one- or two-day absence, your employer generally cannot demand proof.
Protections Against Retaliation
Your employer cannot fire, discipline, or penalize you for requesting or using ESST.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 181.9447 – Use of Earned Sick and Safe Time If your workplace runs an attendance point system, ESST absences cannot count as points. An employer that assigns attendance demerits for lawful sick time is violating the statute.
The law also bars employers from threatening to report a worker’s immigration status as retaliation for using ESST.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 181.9447 – Use of Earned Sick and Safe Time You don’t need to cite the statute when asserting your rights; requesting time off for a qualifying reason is enough. You can file a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry or bring a private lawsuit.6Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. FAQs: Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)
What Happens to Unused Time When You Leave a Job
Employers are not required to pay out accrued ESST when you quit or are terminated. If the same employer rehires you within 180 days, your previously accrued balance must be reinstated.
Vacation pay follows a different rule. Minnesota has no standalone statute requiring vacation payouts, so the obligation comes from the employer’s own policy or your employment contract. If the handbook promises to pay out unused vacation at separation, that promise is enforceable. The Department of Labor and Industry treats promised benefits as payable within 30 days of when they come due, and workers can pursue unpaid amounts through conciliation court under Minnesota Statutes Section 181.74.7Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Employment Termination
If your employer fails to pay wages owed at discharge, including vacation pay the policy promised, a separate penalty applies. Under Section 181.13, you can recover your average daily earnings for each day the payment is late, up to 15 days, on top of the wages themselves.8Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 181.13 – Penalty for Failure to Pay Wages Promptly
Watch for combined PTO banks. If your employer merges sick time and vacation into one PTO bank, what happens at separation depends on the written policy. A policy that promises payout for the PTO bank owes the full balance. A policy that carves out the ESST portion as non-payable may owe only the vacation portion. Ambiguity usually works in the employee’s favor.
Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave
Minnesota Paid Leave launched on January 1, 2026, under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 268B.9Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes Chapter 268B – Family and Medical Benefits It’s a state-administered insurance program funded by premiums, and it provides partial wage replacement for extended time away from work. Qualifying reasons include bonding with a new child, recovering from a serious health condition, caring for a seriously ill family member, and addressing needs from a family member’s military deployment.
Paid Leave benefits do not draw from your ESST bank. The two programs cover different situations and can be used in the same year.
Eligibility and Benefit Amount
To qualify for Paid Leave benefits, you must have earned at least $3,900 in wages during the prior year, from one job or several combined.10Minnesota Paid Leave. How Paid Leave Works Most workers with steady part-time employment will cross that line.
Weekly benefits use a tiered formula:11Minnesota Paid Leave. Estimate Your Payments
- Wages up to $711.50 per week (half the state average): 90% replacement.
- Wages from $711.50 to $1,423 per week (the state average): 66% replacement on that portion.
- Wages above $1,423 per week: 55% replacement on that portion.
The maximum weekly benefit is capped at $1,423, the current state average weekly wage.11Minnesota Paid Leave. Estimate Your Payments Lower-wage workers receive a higher replacement percentage.
You can take up to 12 weeks of family leave and 12 weeks of medical leave in a benefit year, but the combined total cannot exceed 20 weeks. Someone who uses 12 weeks of medical leave after surgery would have 8 weeks left for family leave that same year.
Premiums and Self-Employed Coverage
The total premium rate for 2026 is 0.88% of an employee’s wages.12Minnesota Paid Leave. Premium Rate and Contributions Employers remit premiums to the state quarterly, and they may pass a portion of the cost to employees through payroll deductions.
Self-employed workers are not automatically covered but can opt in. If approved, you pay the full 0.88% of prior-year net earnings and must commit to at least 104 weeks of coverage. You pay one full year of premiums upfront, and coverage begins the quarter after your application is approved and payment is received.13Minnesota Unemployment Insurance. Opt-in for Paid Leave Coverage Opting out is only allowed on the January 1 that follows completion of the minimum coverage period.
Federal Tax Treatment of Paid Leave Benefits
Starting with tax year 2025, IRS Revenue Ruling 2025-4 spells out how state paid family and medical leave benefits are taxed federally. The rules depend on the type of leave and who paid the premiums.
Family leave benefits, meaning time for bonding, caregiving, or military family needs, are included in your federal gross income but are not subject to Social Security, Medicare, or federal unemployment taxes. The state reports these payments on a Form 1099 rather than a W-2.
Medical leave benefits split based on funding source. The portion attributable to your own premium contributions is not taxable federal income. The portion attributable to employer contributions is treated as wages subject to income tax and employment taxes. If your employer voluntarily pays your share of the premium, that pickup contribution counts as taxable wages to you.
The practical takeaway: expect a 1099 for family leave benefits and plan to set aside money for federal income tax. For medical leave benefits, the tax bite depends on how much of the premium your employer covered versus what came out of your paycheck.
How Minnesota Leave Works Alongside Federal FMLA
Federal FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year, but only if you’ve worked for your employer for at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours in the prior year, and work for an employer with 50 or more employees within 75 miles.14U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28 – The Family and Medical Leave Act
Minnesota’s ESST has a much lower bar: 80 anticipated hours of work and any employer size. A worker at a five-person company who started three months ago qualifies for ESST but not FMLA. The Paid Leave program similarly reaches smaller employers that FMLA does not.
When both FMLA and Minnesota Paid Leave apply, they generally run concurrently rather than stacking. Your employer can require the two to run at the same time, so you receive wage replacement from the state program while also using your 12 weeks of FMLA job protection. ESST is designed for shorter absences and does not automatically run concurrently with FMLA unless your employer’s policy says so.
When federal and state protections both apply, the more generous provision controls on any point of conflict. FMLA defines a “serious health condition” as one requiring inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider, including conditions causing more than three consecutive days of incapacity with follow-up treatment.15U.S. Department of Labor. Taking Leave from Work When You or Your Family Has a Serious Health Condition Under the FMLA ESST has no such threshold; a single-day migraine qualifies. ESST fills gaps FMLA leaves open, and Paid Leave adds money to what would otherwise be unpaid FMLA time.