As we previously reported, the Minnesota Legislature passed numerous changes to Minnesota employment laws, including paid sick leave, paid family leave, and much more. One overlooked change included in the 274-page omnibus jobs bill (SF 3035) is a significant expansion to Minnesota parental leave, pregnancy accommodations, and protections for nursing mothers. Importantly, these changes are effective July 1, 2023.
Expansion to (Unpaid) Minnesota Parental Leave
In its current form, the Minnesota Parental Leave Act (MPLA), Minn. Stat. §§ 181.940 to 181.944, requires covered employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to qualified employees. The MPLA applies only to employers with 21 or more employees and, to be eligible, employees must work at least half-time for 1 year. The MPLA also covers “school conference and activities leave” (§ 181.9412) and expanded uses of “sick leave benefits” (§ 181.9413).
Effective July 1, 2023, the definition of “employer” is amended to include any employer with “one or more employees.” In addition, the definition of “employee” no longer includes a requirement to work for at least one year or to work at least half-time. The definition of “employee,” though, still does not include true “independent contractors.” Thus, as amended, the MPLA will apply to all employers with one or more “employees,” and employees will be immediately eligible for up to 12 weeks of (unpaid) MPLA leave upon hire.
Employers will need to update their parental leave policies to comply with the expanded protections for parents under the MPLA.
Additional Protections for Pregnant and Nursing Mothers
Minn. Stat. § 181.939 includes protections for nursing mothers and requires pregnancy accommodations. In its current form, both protections apply to any “employer” with 15 or more employees. Effective July 1, 2023, the protections are expanded to all employers with “one or more employees.”
In addition, the nursing mother protections are presently limited to the 12 months following the birth of the child and an employer is not required to provide break time if it would “unduly disrupt” the operations of the employer. Effective July 1, both of these restrictions are eliminated:
An employer must provide reasonable break times each day to an employee who needs to express breast milk for her infant child during the twelve months following the birth of the child. The break times must, if possible, may run concurrently with any break times already provided to the employee. An employer is not required to provide break times under this section if to do so would unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. An employer shall not reduce an employee’s compensation for time used for the purpose of expressing milk.
The new law also amends the pregnancy accommodation portion of Section 181.939 to include “more frequent or longer restroom, food, and water breaks” and the following examples of reasonable accommodations: “temporary leave of absence, modification in work schedule or job assignments, seating, more frequent restroom breaks or longer break periods, and limits to heavy lifting.”
Employers will need to update their policies and procedures regarding pregnancy accommodations and nursing mothers breaks in order to comply with the amended statute.
New Notice Requirement
Effective July 1, 2023, Minn. Stat. § 181.939 is amended to include a new “notice” requirement for new employees and employees who request parental leave. Specifically, the new law provides:
An employer shall inform employees of their rights under this section at the time of hire and when an employee makes an inquiry about or requests parental leave. Information must be provided in English and the primary language of the employee as identified by the employee. An employer that provides an employee handbook to its employees must include in the handbook notice of employee rights and remedies under this section. The commissioner shall make available to employers the text to be included in the notice required by this section in English and the five most common languages spoken in Minnesota.
Recently, Minnesota DOLI released its sample notice. The language, however, appears to go much further than what is requested by the new law.
Either way, employers would be wise to add language addressing pregnancy accommodations and parental leave to their Wage Theft Notices, which are required to be distributed to all employees, their leave materials, and their employee handbooks in order to comply with the new notice requirements.
Bottom Line
After one of most active legislative sessions in recent memory, employers will need to take action to comply with the new laws. If you need assistance, you should contact someone from Felhaber’s Labor & Employment team to assist you.
A special thank you to Alexandra E. Diwik for assisting with this blog post.