Minnesota Adopts New Rules Clarifying Earned Sick And Safe Time Requirements

Following a multi-year process, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MNDOLI) adopted rules providing guidance and clarification on Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time law (“ESST”). The rules went into effect on July 6, 2026.

Accrual Year

The rules clarify that while employers are able to define the ESST accrual year as any regular and consecutive 12-month period, if the employer does not clearly designate and communicate the accrual year, the default year will be the calendar year.

An employer must communicate any change to the accrual year to employees in advance and such change cannot negatively impact an employee’s ability to accrue ESST.

Changing Accrual Methods

Similar to the rules governing changes to an employer’s accrual year, the adopted rules require that employers provide employees with written notice before changing the method used to provide ESST (e.g., switching between an accrual method to frontloading). The rules clarify that the change cannot go into effect until the first day of the next accrual year.

Employee Eligibility

Subject to limited exceptions, Minnesota’s ESST law covers all employees who are anticipated to perform work for at least 80 hours in a year for the employer in Minnesota. The adopted rules provide additional guidance on how employers should determine whether an employee meets this threshold. Specifically, an employer must determine in “good faith” whether an employee is anticipated to work at least 80 hours for the employer in Minnesota during the year. “Good faith” is defined to mean, “the employer, at a minimum, evaluated the employee’s anticipated work schedule and location of hours worked in a manner that is not knowingly false or in reckless disregard of the truth.”

Use of Leave for an Indeterminate Shift

If an employee, who is scheduled to work a shift of an indeterminate length, needs to use ESST, employers can calculate their ESST usage using one of the following options:

• the hours worked by the replacement worker, if any;
• the hours worked by the employee in the most recent similar shift of an indeterminate length; or
• the greatest number of hours worked by a similarly situated employee, if any, who worked the shift for which the employee used earned sick and safe time.

Accrual and Crediting of ESST

The rules provide clarity regarding accrual, crediting, reinstatement and advancement of ESST. ESST accrued based on hours worked during a pay period must be made available to employees no later than the regular payday following the end of the corresponding pay period. The rules also confirm that employers are not required to credit employees with ESST in increments smaller than one hour.

For employees who accrue time (versus receive frontloaded time), the rules provide that employers are permitted to advance ESST so long as it is calculated at a rate of least at 1 hour for every thirty hours the employee is anticipated to work. Under the rules, employers are not required to advance more than 48 hours, unless a policy, contract, ordinance, or other legal requirement provides otherwise. If the advanced time would result in a shortfall of ESST time as compared to the employee’s actual hours worked, the employer must provide additional ESST sufficient to make up the difference within 15 calendar days after the employee’s actual hours worked exceed the employer’s original estimate of anticipated hours.

Reasonable Documentation for Misuse

Minnesota’s ESST statute only explicitly permits employers to request reasonable documentation where an employee uses ESST for more than two consecutive scheduled workdays. The adopted rules provide employers with additional flexibility by allowing employers to request reasonable documentation, notwithstanding the statutory timing limitation, when there is a pattern or clear instance of suspected misuse of ESST. Examples of suspected misuse under the rules, include, but are not limited to an employee repeatedly using ESST immediately before or after scheduled days off, vacation or holiday, or where an employee used ESST on a day for which the employer previously denied the employee’s request to take other paid time off.

While leave taken for a non-qualifying purpose is not entitled to the ESST protections, the rules make clear that employers cannot deny an employee’s future use of ESST for qualifying purposes based on the employee’s previous misuse or suspected misuse of ESST.

Employers must continue to comply with Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subd. 3, which allows employee statements to serve as reasonable documentation in certain circumstances, including when documentation from a health care professional cannot be obtained within a reasonable time or without added expense.

Incentive Programs

Under the rules, an employer may consider an employee’s use of ESST when determining if the employee met the requirements of an incentive program. Specifically, if a bonus, reward, or other incentive is based on the achievement of a specified goal, for example, perfect attendance, hours worked, or products sold, an employer may deny an employee the incentive if the employee fails to meet the applicable goal because of ESST use. However, an employer may not deny the incentive if it would otherwise be provided to employees who are on another type of leave.

More Generous Sick and Safe Time Policies

Many employers continue to navigate the practical implications of the 2024 amendments to Minnesota’s ESST law, which expanded certain statutory protections to employer-provided paid time off that exceeds the required ESST amounts when such time off may be used for an employee’s personal illness or injury. According to MNDOLI, concerns regarding the impact of ESST on more generous leave policies were the most common topic of comments it received on the proposed rules. The rules clarify that the law applies ESST protections only when the leave is used for a qualifying purpose under the ESST law.

In responding to comments on the proposed rules, MNDOLI stated, “[f]or instance, if the ESST protections could apply to such leave when not used for an ESST-qualifying purpose, then an employer who provides a single bank of leave for all purposes (i.e. vacation, sick time, etc.) would be made to offer ESST protections to their employees for any conceivable use, such as personal vacations and other personal outings, which are not eligible uses of ESST under section 181.9447, subd. 1.”

The rules further clarify the interplay between the ESST law and the separate Minnesota Paid Leave Law. The rules specify that Minnesota Paid Leave is considered an “other salary continuation benefit” which is excluded from being subject to certain ESST protections under the 2024 amendments to the ESST statute.

Next Steps for Employers

Employers can review MNDOLI’s new ESST FAQs as well as updated ESST FAQs published by City of Minneapolis to reflect the recent amendments to its city ordinance and its latest enforcement and compliance guidance.

The rules and FAQs provide important guidance and clarification for employers with Minnesota employees. The rules emphasize the importance of maintaining clear policies and providing timely written notice of changes. Employers should consider reviewing and updating their employee handbooks, leave policies, and providing manager training to ensure supervisors understand the rules governing ESST requests, documentation requirements, and employee eligibility.