Minnesota Business Owners: Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) Law Explained 

What is Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)? 

As of January 1^st, 2024, Minnesota businesses are required to comply with the Earned Sick and Safe Time law. This law requires employers to provide paid leave to all employees for reasons such as: 

• the employee’s mental or physical illness, treatment or preventive care;    
• a family member’s mental or physical illness, treatment or preventive care; 
• absence due to domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking of the employee or a family member; 
• closure of the employee’s workplace due to weather or public emergency or closure of a family member’s school or care facility due to weather or public emergency; and 
• when determined by a health authority or health care professional that the employee or a family member is at risk of infecting others with a communicable disease. 

How much sick and safe time can employees accrue? 

Under this law, employees will earn 1 hour of sick and safe time for every 30 hours they work up to at least 48 hours per year. This includes overtime hours, unless an employee is exempt from earning overtime pay. If an employee is using paid leave (sick or vacation), the law does not require ESST to accrue during those hours.  

If an employer already provides PTO and/or sick leave that meets the minimum requirements, it is not required to add additional ESST.  

What are employers required to do? 

Outside of providing the minimum hours of paid sick leave, employers are required to:  

• include the total number of earned sick and safe time hours available for use, as well as the total number of earned sick and safe time hours used, on earnings statements provided to employees at the end of each pay period; 
• provide employees with a notice by Jan. 1, 2024 — or at the start of employment, whichever is later — in English and in an employee’s primary language if that is not English, informing them about earned sick and safe time; and 
• include a sick and safe time notice in the employee handbook, if the employer has an employee handbook. 

Who is and is not eligible? 

Employees are eligible for ESST if they work at least 80 hours in a year for an employer. This law does not apply to independent contractors.   

Part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees are all eligible, as well. But sick and safe time requirements will not apply to building and construction industry employees who are represented by a building and construction trades labor organization if a valid waiver of these requirements is provided in a collective bargaining agreement. 

Employees do not have to live in Minnesota to receive ESST. But they must work in Minnesota for at least 80 hours a year to be eligible. Only time worked in Minnesota will apply to the accrual of ESST.  

What do employees have to do to use it? 

Employees may use ESST as it is accrued for any of the previously mentioned reasons. An employer may require up to 7 days advance notice to use ESST if the reason is “foreseeable”. If the need is unforeseeable, employers may require notice as soon as practicable. If employers want to require notice, it must have a written policy regarding the procedure for using ESST.  

Also, employees do not have to find someone to cover their shift when using ESST. Employers cannot require that an employee disclose specific details about the reason for using ESST, including details about health conditions. 

For any questions about ESST or for help implementing it into your business, we are here to help!