Court of Appeals Ruling - Sick and Safe Time

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Notice: "Non-resident" employers and their employees

May 29, 2019

As many of you are aware, the Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time ordinance took effect July 1, 2017. Previous litigation temporarily suspended enforcement against “non-resident” employers. However, the effective date of July 1, 2017 remains unchanged.

Following a recent court ruling, the Department of Civil Rights has the responsibility to fully enforce the law. All covered employees, including employees of “non-resident” employers, are entitled to accrued sick and safe time based upon hours worked in the City of Minneapolis since July 1, 2017. Employers must provide covered employees with accrued sick and safe time accordingly.

The Department of Civil Rights may exercise some enforcement discretion during summer 2019 as "non-resident" employers act in good faith to promptly comply. An employee is covered if that employee works for more than 80 hours per year within the City, regardless of the employer's physical location. 

Employers are reminded that they may comply with the ordinance either by (1) crediting covered employees with sick and safe time at a rate of 1 hour per 30 hours worked in the City, capped at 48 per year and 80 overall, or (2) front-loading a lump sum of 48 hours for the first year of the employee’s employment and 80 hours at the beginning of every year thereafter (also capped at 80 hours overall). Employers may therefore comply with the ordinance without individual historical calculations at this time by crediting each covered employee with 80 hours of accrued sick and safe time. Employers are permitted to choose different methods of compliance (accrual or frontloading) for different employees.

Employees are also reminded that use of leave for purposes not authorized by the Sick and Safe Time ordinance is not protected by the ordinance. Employee use of leave is protected by the ordinance only for hours scheduled to be worked with the city. Similarly, once an employee uses all accrued leave, additional use of leave is not protected by the ordinance (other laws or an employer’s policy may apply). See additional resources online for more info and email your questions to sicktimeinfo@minneapolismn.gov.

Thank you.