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Elaine (Lainey) Luthens is an associate in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Her practice focuses on representing employers in workplace legal matters, including preventive advice and counseling, as well as drafting employment-related policies and contracts.

She has represented employers on a wide range of employment-related disputes, such as claims for discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage loss, and breach of contract, in state and federal court and before federal, state, and local agencies.

Minnesota is one of a dozen states that have enacted a statewide program providing compensation to employees during family and medical leaves. Minnesota’s law provides job protection and payment of benefits through a state-run insurance program to qualifying employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave for family and/or medical reasons (or a combined

Minnesota’s Paid Leave Division recently published final proposed rules (“Proposed Rules”) that, if adopted, will regulate the state’s Paid Leave Law. The Paid Leave Law establishes a benefit insurance program for paid family and medical leave for covered Minnesota employees and takes effect on January 1, 2026. The Proposed Rules reflect input from businesses, healthcare

Leave laws, regulations, and ordinances continue to change in Minnesota. The city of Duluth, Minnesota, repealed its Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) ordinance effective Jan. 17, 2024. The Duluth ESST had guaranteed paid leave for qualifying employees working in the city since Jan. 1, 2020. Minnesota’s statewide ESST statute went into effect on Jan.

Continuing the wave of new rules and regulations related to paid leave in Minnesota, on January 8, 2024, the St. Paul Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity (HREEO) issued guidance on its interpretation of St. Paul’s Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) Ordinance. St. Paul revised its ESST Ordinance in October 2023

Minnesota’s statewide paid sick and safe leave mandate, the Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) law, went into effect Jan. 1, 2024. The Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) has posted answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ Guide) that it revised on Dec. 4, 2023.

The revised FAQ Guide provides more information and example scenarios

Employers in Minnesota are not the only ones gearing up for Minnesota’s earned sick and safe time (ESST) law to take effect on January 1, 2024. Cities in Minnesota are also making changes to their respective earned sick and safe time ordinances. Saint Paul’s City Council unanimously adopted amendments to its Earned Sick and Safe

The City Council for the City of Bloomington, Minnesota, has adopted amendments to its Sick and Safe Time Ordinance (previously called the Sick and Safe Leave Time Ordinance). The amendments, Ordinance No. 2023-24 § 23.05, will go in effect on January 1, 2024.

Although Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time mandate does not preempt related