Minnesota Implements Paid Leave Law

Minnesota has passed a paid family and medical leave program that will cover bonding time around a child's birth, caregiving leave, an employee's own medical situation, military deployment, and instances of domestic abuse or sexual assault. The program will provide up to 20 weeks of leave in a calendar year, with a maximum of 12 weeks for any single event. The level of pay will be determined by a scale that factors in a person's wages and the state's average weekly wage. The costs will be split among companies and their workers, with a payroll tax beginning at 0.7 percent in January 2026.