Article provided by our partners at WFJ Law Firm and The Compliance Center
The Minnesota legislative session has officially concluded, and during this session, the Legislature amended rest and meal break laws, Earned Sick and Safe Time (“ESST”), and MN Paid Leave. The Legislature did not enact any monumental changes; however, the changes are still significant and important for employers to be aware of. Employers should be aware that most of the changes to ESST already went into effect on July 1, 2025.
Rest and Meal Breaks
Rest Breaks. Starting on January 1, 2026, employers must give employees a rest break of at least 15 minutes, or enough time to utilize the nearest convenient restroom, whichever is longer, for every four consecutive hours of work. Employers were previously only required to provide employees with “adequate time from work within each four consecutive hours of work to utilize the nearest convenient restroom.”
Meal Breaks. Starting on January 1, 2026, employers must “allow” employees who work for six or more consecutive hours to take a meal break of at least 30 minutes. Employers were previously only required to “permit” employees working at least eight or more consecutive hours “sufficient time to eat.”
Remedies. Employees also have additional legal remedies available. If an employer violates an employee’s rest or meal break rights, the employer is liable to the employee for the rest or meal break time that the employer should have allowed at the employee’s regular rate of pay, plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. In other words, employers can be held liable for double the amount it owes the employee. These remedies go into effect on January 1, 2026.
Earned Sick and Safe Time
The Legislature made the following changes to ESST, which go into effect on July 1, 2025:
- Notice Requirements. If an employee’s need for ESST leave is unforeseeable, employees must now give advance notice as “reasonably required by the employer.” Employees are currently only required to give advance notice “as soon as practicable.” The amendment is a more employer friendly standard since notice as “reasonably required by the employer” will likely require more advance notice than “as soon as practicable.”
- Documentation. Employers can request that employees provide reasonable documentation to support their need for ESST after the employee uses ESST for two consecutive scheduled workdays. ESST currently requires employees to use ESST for three consecutive scheduled workdays before an employer is permitted to request reasonable documentation.
- Replacement Worker. Employers have always been prohibited from requiring employees to seek or find a replacement worker to cover hours the employee misses while using ESST, but the Legislature enacted an amendment that clarifies employees may voluntarily seek or trade shifts with a replacement worker to cover hours the employee misses while using ESST.
The following amendment goes into effect on January 1, 2026:
- Advancing ESST. Employers have always been allowed to advance ESST, but the Legislature enacted an amendment that clarifies that employers may advance ESST to an employee based on the number of hours the employee is anticipated to work for the remaining portion of the accrual year, and if the advanced amount is less than the amount the employee would have accrued based on the actual hours worked, the employer must provide additional ESST to make up the difference.
MN Paid Leave
Maximum Premium Rate. The Legislature amended the total annual premium cap to 1.1% of the employees’ wages. The former total annual premium cap was 1.1%. However, the premium rate in 2026 will still be 0.88%. By July 31, 2026, and July 31 of each subsequent calendar year, the State of Minnesota can adjust the annual premium rates for the following calendar year based on “program historical experience and sound actuarial principles,” but the total annual premium can now be no higher than 1.2% of the employees’ wages.
While the changes made during the 2025 Minnesota legislative session may not be groundbreaking, they are still impactful. Employers should review their meal and rest break and ESST policies to see if they need to make updates to stay compliant. As always, please contact WFJ if you have any questions.