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.

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Who’s Covered/ Eligible

• 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.