Minnesota paid leave comes in two forms: earned sick and safe time, which has been available since January 1, 2024 and builds up as you work, and a new state-run paid family and medical leave insurance program that starts paying benefits on January 1, 2026. Together they cover everything from a couple of hours for a doctor’s appointment to months away for a serious illness or a new baby. Nearly every worker in the state is covered, including part-time and temporary employees.
The Two Programs, Side by Side
Earned sick and safe time is short-term paid leave your employer provides directly. You accrue hours as you work and use them for the kinds of things that come up in an ordinary year: a bad flu, a kid’s fever, a court date after a domestic incident, a snow day that closes daycare.
The 2026 paid family and medical leave program is different. It’s insurance. Workers and employers both pay premiums into a state fund, and the fund pays you when you need weeks off for something bigger, like recovering from surgery, bonding with a new child, or caring for a seriously ill parent. You apply to the state, not your employer, and the state sends you the money.
Earned Sick and Safe Time: How Much You Get
You earn at least one hour of sick and safe time for every 30 hours worked, up to a minimum of 48 hours per year.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 181.9446 – Accrual of Earned Sick and Safe Time Employers can offer more, never less. Unused hours roll into the next year, and your bank can grow to 80 hours before it caps.2Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. FAQs: Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)
Some employers skip accrual entirely and frontload all 48 hours at the start of the year. When they do that, they can drop the carryover requirement, though some pay out unused hours at year’s end instead.2Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. FAQs: Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)
You qualify if you’re expected to work at least 80 hours in a year for a Minnesota employer, whether you’re part-time, temporary, or full-time.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 181.9445 – Definitions Independent contractors are not covered.
What You Can Use It For
The permitted uses go well beyond having a cold. You can use the time for your own physical or mental illness, injury, or preventative care, and to care for a family member dealing with a health condition. Family is defined broadly: spouses, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and household members.
A separate set of protections covers safety-related absences. If you or a family member is dealing with domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking, you can use the time to seek legal help, relocate, get counseling, or take other steps to address the situation. One use that catches workers by surprise: you can also use the time when your workplace closes for weather or a public emergency, or when a family member’s school or daycare shuts down for those same reasons.4Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)
Your employer cannot make you find a replacement worker to use your time, cannot count these absences against you in an attendance point system, and cannot retaliate for a leave request.
Paid Family and Medical Leave Starting in 2026
Beginning January 1, 2026, the state insurance program provides much longer stretches of paid time off. It’s funded by a payroll premium of 0.88 percent of wages in 2026. Employers must cover at least half, and the rest comes out of your paycheck as a deduction, though your employer can choose to cover more.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 268B.14 – Premiums The deduction cannot push your take-home pay below minimum wage.
Who Qualifies
To draw benefits, you must have earned at least 5.3 percent of the state’s average annual wage during the past year. For 2026, that’s roughly $3,900.6Minnesota Paid Leave. Estimate Your Payments The threshold adjusts each year as average wages change.
Qualifying Reasons for Paid Leave
The program covers six categories:7Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 268B.01 – Definitions
- Your own serious health condition — illness, injury, or a medical condition requiring inpatient care or continuing treatment.
- Pregnancy-related medical care, including prenatal visits, childbirth recovery, and complications.
- Bonding with a new child following birth, adoption, or foster placement.
- Caring for a family member with a serious health condition.
- A qualifying military exigency arising from a family member’s active-duty service.
- Safety leave to address domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking affecting you or a family member.
“Family member” reaches further here than most people expect. It includes spouses, children, parents, siblings, grandchildren, grandparents, and in-laws, plus anyone you have a personal caregiving relationship with, even if you don’t live together.7Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 268B.01 – Definitions If you’ve been regularly caring for a close friend or chosen family member, they can qualify.
How Much the Benefit Pays
Your weekly benefit depends on how your wages compare to Minnesota’s average weekly wage, currently $1,423. The formula applies a tiered replacement rate to your average weekly earnings from your highest-earning quarter:6Minnesota Paid Leave. Estimate Your Payments
- The first $711.50 per week (up to 50 percent of the state average) is replaced at 90 percent.
- Wages from $711.50 to $1,423 per week are replaced at 66 percent.
- Wages above $1,423 per week are replaced at 55 percent.
The maximum weekly benefit is $1,423, matching the state average weekly wage. Lower earners get a higher share of their pay replaced by design. Someone earning $600 a week would receive about $540 (90 percent). Someone earning $2,000 a week would receive closer to $1,200, blending the tiers. The state’s paid leave website has a calculator where you can plug in your actual earnings.
How Long You Can Take
You can take up to 12 weeks of family leave and up to 12 weeks of medical leave per benefit year. If you need both in the same year, the combined maximum is 20 weeks, not 24.8Minnesota Paid Leave. How Paid Leave Works That combined cap matters most for events like childbirth, where you might use medical leave for recovery and then family leave for bonding. There is no waiting period before payments begin, though the state starts processing your payment on day eight of your leave.
Your Job and Health Insurance While You’re Out
Once you’ve worked for your employer for at least 90 days, the paid leave law protects your job. When you return, your employer must restore you to the same position or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, and working conditions.9Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 268B.09 – Employment Protections That right holds even if your employer hired a replacement or restructured your role while you were gone.
Your employer must also keep paying their share of your health insurance premiums during the leave, maintaining the coverage you had before.9Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 268B.09 – Employment Protections You’re still on the hook for your employee share, but they cannot drop you from the plan or reduce your coverage.
Retaliation for requesting or using paid leave is illegal, whether it takes the form of firing, demotion, reduced hours, or any other adverse action tied to your leave.10Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Job Protections Under Minnesota Paid Leave One limit: if your employer can prove you would have been laid off regardless of your leave, such as an elimination of your entire department, they don’t have to reinstate you.9Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 268B.09 – Employment Protections
How to Request Leave
The process depends on which program you’re using. For earned sick and safe time, you follow your employer’s internal procedures. If your employer has a written notice policy, use it. If they haven’t given you one, they cannot deny your leave based on how you asked.
For the 2026 paid family and medical leave insurance program, you apply through the state’s portal at pl.mn.gov or paidleave.mn.gov. You’ll provide personal identification, employment details, and certification supporting your reason for leave. Health-related claims need a healthcare provider’s certification describing your condition and expected duration. Safety-related claims can be documented through police reports, court records, or statements from advocates.
Certification forms are available on the Minnesota Paid Leave website as fillable PDFs you can complete electronically or by hand.11Minnesota Paid Leave. Individuals and Families Toolkit After you submit, the state reviews your application and notifies you of eligibility. Approved benefits pay by direct deposit or check. If the length of your leave changes, update the state so your payments keep flowing.
If You’re Self-Employed
Independent contractors and self-employed individuals are not automatically covered by either program, but they can opt into the paid family and medical leave insurance program. To qualify, you must be a Minnesota resident and earn at least 5.3 percent of the state’s average annual wage in net self-employment income.12Minnesota Unemployment Insurance. Opt In for Paid Leave Coverage
The opt-in process starts by registering an employer account through the state’s unemployment insurance system and submitting a self-employed opt-in request. You pay the full 0.88 percent premium on your prior year’s net earnings, since there’s no employer to split the cost, and you must pay an entire year upfront. Coverage begins at the start of the quarter after your request is approved and payment is received.12Minnesota Unemployment Insurance. Opt In for Paid Leave Coverage
If Your Employer Uses a Private Plan
Some employers apply to substitute an approved private plan for the state insurance program. The private plan must cover all the same qualifying events, provide at least the same weekly benefit amounts and number of weeks, and include the same job protections and anti-retaliation rules.13Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 268B.10 – Substitution of a Private Plan It cannot charge employees more than they’d pay under the state plan, and employees covered by a private plan keep all the same legal rights and remedies. From your side, the experience should look the same.