Minnesota Paid Leave Mandate Slated for 2026

Minnesota mandates a statewide Paid Leave program that goes into effect January 1, 2026.  It provides paid time for certain health conditions, for qualifying family member care time, and for time off for new children. 

Premium costs for Paid Leave can be split between employees and employer.  Employers must pay at least 50 percent of the total premiums, but they may choose to pay up to 100 percent of the premium costs.  Employers can deduct any employee contributions from employee pay.

Key dates for employers:

• October 2024 – deadine for setting up a paid leave account, if needed, with Minnesota.

• December 2025 – deadline for employers to notify employees about Paid Leave benefits.

• January 2026 – Individuals and families can begin taking leave.

• Payroll deductions begin for employees and employers.

• Small employers can apply for assistance grants.

• April 2026 – first quarterly premiums due from employers.

Next Steps:

MN Paid Leave will use the same online reporting system as the MN Unemployment Insurance.  

• If your employees are currently covered by MN unemployment, no additional steps are needed, as the same account and quarterly wages detail reports will be used for the Paid Leave.  Your existing unemployment account has already been converted to a joint unemployment and Paid Leave account.

• If some or all your employees are NOT covered by MN unemployment, a Paid Leave account will need to be created to submit wage detail information by October 31, 2024.  The registration for a Paid Leave Only account can be done on the MN Unemployment Insurance website.  https://www.uimn.org/employers/index.jsp

Additional Resources:  

MN Paid Leave website:  https://paidleave.mn.gov

FAQs:  https://paidleave.mn.gov/employers/faq/index.jsp

Questions:

Reach out to Eide Bailly Outsourced Payroll group at payroll@eidebailly.com