Minnesota’s Paid Leave Law

Here’s a summary of what Minnesota’s Paid Leave law (sometimes called Paid Family & Medical Leave) will look like starting in 2026. The main points are:

What is it, and When It Begins

• The program starts January 1, 2026.

• It provides payments and job protection to people who need time off for serious health issues, family obligations, bonding with a new child, certain safety needs, or military-related situations. Minnesota joins a growing list of states rolling out paid leave, and employers with a multi-state workforce often compare it with Maine Paid Leave and Delaware Paid Leave.

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Who’s Covered/ Eligible

• Tracking a new program like this alongside every other jurisdiction is far easier when you keep state leave laws in one reference and administer them through dedicated leave management software. Most employees are covered: full-time, part-time, temporary, many seasonal workers.

• Some are not automatically covered: independent contractors, self-employed persons, certain tribal-nation employees, federal employees, and some seasonal hospitality workers. But many of those can opt in, where allowed.

• To be eligible, an employee must have earned at least $3,700 in the past year (≈ 5.3% of the state’s average annual wage).

• Also, there must be a qualifying event that lasts at least 7 days.

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How Much Leave / What Types

• There are two main types of leave: Medical Leave (for your own serious health condition) and Family Leave (for things like bonding a new child; caring for a family member; certain military duties; or safety leave—e.g. issues like domestic violence or sexual assault).

• Each type gives up to 12 weeks per benefit year.

• You can take both kinds in a single benefit year, but there’s a combined cap of 20 weeks total.

• The “benefit year” starts on the first day you take leave.

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Pay / Wage Replacement

• Workers will receive a portion of their usual wages — most people will get between 55% and 90% of their regular wages.

• The weekly benefit is capped at the state’s average weekly wage, which for 2025 is $1,372/week.

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Funding/ Premiums

• The program is funded via a payroll premium, shared between employer and employee.

• For 2026, the total premium rate is 0.88% of employee wages.

  • Employers must pay at least 50% of that.
  • The rest (up to 50%) may be deducted from the employee’s paycheck.

• There’s a small employer reduced rate: if you have ≤ 30 employees and the average wage of employees is ≤ 150% of the statewide average weekly wage, the employer portion is reduced.

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Protections & Other Rights

• Once you’ve worked 90 days for your current employer, job protection kicks in: you must be able to return to your same job (or an equivalent one) after leave.

• Health insurance continuation is required during leave: employer must maintain health insurance benefits.

• Protections against retaliation: employers can’t punish or retaliate for using leave.

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Key Deadlines & Employer Responsibilities

• Employers need to post notice and inform employees by December 1, 2025.

• Premium payments: first premiums due April 30, 2026, covering wages from Jan 1-Mar 31. Employers can begin deducting employee share starting Jan 1, 2026.

For information on LeaveSource by Qcera please contact our leave team at leaveteam@qcera.com.

Additional Articles:

https://qcera.com/blog/with-mobile-text-manage-leaves-from-anywhere/

https://qcera.com/blog/hr-guide-to-the-employee-leave-of-absence-life-cycle/