Opinion | How employers can best prepare for Minnesota’s new paid leave program

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Minnesotans take care of one another, and we know employers want to take care of their employees. As we prepare to roll out Minnesota’s new paid leave program on Jan. 1, our team at the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has been working hard to ensure employers are prepared for a new program that will give Minnesotans the opportunity to make time for life moments that matter most.

Paid leave will support employees so they don’t need to choose between financial security and caring for themselves and their family. It will offer partial wage replacement and job protections to workers while they welcome a child to the family, recover from their own serious illness or care for a loved one.

Employers will play a critical role in ensuring the smooth launch and ongoing operation of the new program. There are three easy near-term steps employers need to take to prepare as we approach the program launch.

In an employer’s Unemployment Insurance Employer account, you need to designate a paid leave administrator, and you will need to create an administrator account at PaidLeave.mn.gov, as well.

Many employers will already have an account with Minnesota Unemployment Insurance, so this step may be as simple as registering with the paid leave website.

The law requires you to hang up a paid leave poster in the workplace and individually inform each employee. Employees must acknowledge they have received this information by signing a form, confirming receipt electronically or in another way employers decide.

You can find posters and sample notices on the paid leave website.

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Since the governor signed paid leave into law three years ago, we have worked hard to get the word out to employers about how this will affect them.

We’re partnering with industry organizations, payroll and human resource service providers, more than 80 chambers of commerce and others to share this message. We’ve made more than 23,000 connections with Minnesota employers at our employer-focused outreach events and many thousands more have joined or viewed our online webinars. This year, our team has averaged one public event every workday.

I want to thank Minnesota’s employers for their feedback, ideas and commitment to getting this right. Because of what we heard from you, the paid leave program is better and stronger, and Minnesotans are better prepared for it.

With launch only two months away, it’s time to put the plans we constructed through these conversations into motion and build the best possible paid leave program for Minnesota.