Paid Leave Updates – September 2024

Implementation Update

Minnesota will be the 13^th state to launch a statewide Paid Leave program. We’re committed to collaborating with stakeholders to build an intuitive and accessible Paid Leave program that works for businesses, individuals, healthcare providers, and all Minnesotans.

The first stop for employers on the road to Paid Leave: your employer account

To make things easier for employers, Paid Leave has partnered with Unemployment Insurance (UI) to use its online portal for collecting wage detail reports starting this month and premium payments in April 2026.

The first important step for employers to prepare for Paid Leave is to review your UI employer account, if you have one, and create a Paid Leave Only account if you need one.

After benefits begin in 2026, the wage detail reports employers submit through this portal will determine the premiums paid by employers and employees, and the eligibility and benefit amount for individuals under Paid Leave.

No additional steps are needed from Minnesota employers if all of their employees are covered by UI, as the same account and quarterly wage detail reports will serve Paid Leave. If an employer has some or all of their employees not covered by UI, they may need to create a Paid Leave Only account.

To help employers better understand how these accounts will support their role and responsibilities under Paid Leave, we will be hosting webinars on the following dates:

• October 10, 9:00 a.m.
• October 16, 11:30 a.m.

To register for a webinar, visit the public events page on the Paid Leave website:

More information about employer roles and responsibilities under Paid Leave is also available on our website: Employers / Minnesota Paid Leave (mn.gov)

Greater Minnesota Roadshow

In early August, Minnesota Paid Leave hit the road in Greater Minnesota to share updates and answer questions about employer roles and responsibilities under the new state program. We are grateful to the Minnesota Chamber Foundation and our local chamber partners for hosting us for these meetings with hundreds of local business owners.

_{Paid Leave Director Greg Norfleet at an employer engagement session in Willmar.}

We have joined 15 meetings across the state since August. As Paid Leave Director Greg Norfleet often says in these meetings, the questions and feedback we receive from employers are like gold – it is an essential part of our commitment to build Paid Leave with, not for, Minnesotans.

We have two more employer engagement sessions in Duluth and Grand Marais on Oct. 7, and will continue to schedule public events as we build out Paid Leave. Keep an eye on the Paid Leave Public Events page for a list of upcoming events.

Public events / Minnesota Paid Leave (mn.gov)

Hiring Spotlight

The Minnesota Paid Leave team is growing fast. We are a start-up in state government and are actively hiring for leaders to deliver on the promises of the legislation.

• Policy and Program Analyst (Apply by September 30, 2024)
• Manager of Grants Administration (Apply by October 7, 2024)

Consider joining our team! You can always find our latest open roles on our website.

Top Questions We're Hearing

• When an employer submits a wage detail report, does that report cover wages earned, or wages paid, in the last quarter?

  Wage detail reports cover wages paid in the last quarter. For each employee, the report must include their name, the total wages paid to the employee, and total number of paid hours worked.

  “Wages paid" includes wages that have actually been paid or that have been credited to, or set aside for, the employee to withdraw, under their control.
  
  If regularly scheduled wage payments are delayed, they are counted as paid on the regularly scheduled pay date. Back pay is counted on the date of payment. Any wages earned but not paid, and with no scheduled date of payment, are counted as paid on the last day of employment. If wages are otherwise earned but not paid in a quarter they are not counted on that quarter’s wage detail report.

• Who qualifies as a self-employed individual?

  "Self-employed individual" means a resident of the state who, in one taxable year preceding the current calendar year, derived at least 5.3 percent of the state's average annual wage in net earnings from self-employment.
  
  "Net earnings from self-employment" has the meaning given in section 1402 of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in section 290.01, subdivision 31.

• How does Paid Leave define wages?

  According to statute, “wages” means all compensation for employment, including commissions; bonuses, awards, and prizes; severance payments; standby pay; vacation and holiday pay; back pay as of the date of payment; tips and gratuities paid to an employee by a customer of an employer and accounted for by the employee to the employer; sickness and accident disability payments, except as otherwise provided in the statute; and the cash value of housing, utilities, meals, exchanges of services, and any other goods and services provided to compensate an employee. This is the same definition used by the Unemployment Insurance division.

For More Information

You can find more information for employers, individuals, and families on our webpage here.

To register your Paid Leave Only or joint UI and Paid Leave account to prepare for wage detail reporting, visit the Unemployment Insurance website.

Still Have Questions?

If you have a Paid Leave question that isn’t yet answered on our website, please submit your question here.

If you need help registering your Paid Leave Only or joint UI and Paid Leave account for wage detail reporting, contact the Unemployment Insurance employer helpline.