New Rules Clarify Minnesota Earned Sick and Safe Time Statute

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry adopted a series of rules, effective July 6, 2026, interpreting Minnesota’s ESST statute. The rules, available in “Adopted permanent rules relating to earned sick and safe time,” do not change the statute but provide interpretive details that may affect how an employer administers ESST. The main points of the rules are summarized in this update but, for detailed and situation-specific analysis, employers should consult employment counsel.

Eligibility

• Employees are eligible for ESST if they are anticipated to perform work for at least 80 hours in a year for an employer in Minnesota. In determining who is anticipated to work at least 80 hours in a year, the employer must, at a minimum, make a good faith evaluation of the employee’s anticipated work schedule and location.

Accrual

• The default accrual year for ESST is the calendar year. If an employer wants to use a different accrual year, it must be clearly communicated to employees, in writing. Any change to the start and end dates of the accrual year must not negatively affect any employee’s ability to accrue ESST.
• Employers who frontload ESST in accordance with the statute do not also have to allow employees to accrue additional ESST.
• A change in method of providing ESST from accrual to frontloading, or vice versa, requires advance written notice to employees and can only take effect on the first day of the next accrual year.
• PTO or other paid leave exceeding the ESST minimum is subject to ESST standards only when used for a qualifying purpose. Otherwise, the employer’s standard PTO policy applies.

Usage

• ESST must be credited for each pay period no later than the regular payday after the pay period ends; ESST is considered accrued when credited. Employers are not required to credit less than hour-unit increments.
• An employer may not require an employee to use ESST, even if the absence would qualify for ESST. If an employee chooses not to use ESST, that absence will not qualify for protection under the ESST statute.
• For employees who are exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements, an employer cannot deduct more ESST hours for a full-day absence than the number of hours deemed worked per day for purposes of accruing ESST.
• For an employee who works variable or on-call shifts of indeterminate length, the number of ESST hours deducted for a missed shift must be determined using: (1) hours worked by a replacement worker; (2) hours the employee worked in the most recent similar shift; or (3) greatest number of hours worked by a similarly situated employee on the shift for which the employee used ESST.
• When advancing ESST for the accrual year, the advance must be at no less than the statutory rate; employers need not advance more than 48 hours (unless a more generous standard applies). If actual hours worked exceed the anticipated amount, the employer must make up the difference within 15 calendar days.

Incentive Payments

• An employer may deny a goal-based incentive (such as a bonus for achieving a sales goal or perfect attendance) even if use of ESST prevented the employee from meeting the goal.  However, this is only permissible if other employees on different types of leaves are treated the same.

Documentation and Misuse

• If an employer requires reasonable documentation (as permitted when an employee uses ESST for more than two consecutive workdays), the documentation requirement must be clearly communicated and the employee given a reasonable amount of time to comply.
• Misuse of ESST is not protected.  However, an employer may not deny use of ESST based on previous misuse.
• Employers may require reasonable documentation before an employee claims ESST for more than two consecutive workdays when there is a pattern or clear instance of suspected misuse, which can include: (1) repeated ESST use on the workday immediately before or after a scheduled day off, vacation, or holiday; (2) repeated use of increments of ESST of less than 30 minutes at the start or end of scheduled shifts; (3) ESST use on a day for which another paid leave request was previously denied; or (4) documentation or other evidence that conflicts with the employee's claimed use of ESST.