Paid Sick & Safe Time Leave Specific to Bloomington, Minnesota

Paid Sick & Safe Time Leave Specific to Bloomington, Minnesota

While the State of Minnesota’s SST leave law will go into effect on January 1, 2024, the City of Bloomington, Minnesota took a head start and implemented a new paid SST leave law as of July 1, 2023. Employers with five or more employees anywhere must allow employees working in Bloomington to accrue one paid SST leave hour for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 48 hours in the first year of employment, and up to 80 hours during the second and subsequent years of employment. Employers with four or less employees must also allow employees working in Bloomington to accrue unpaid SST hours using the same formula. The employer can also choose to frontload the hours at the start of each year instead of using the accrual method. The Bloomington ordinance applies to those employees who worked for the employer for at least 80 hours in a year within City boundaries, and such employees cannot use accrued SST hours until after a 90-day waiting period from the date of hire or July 1, 2023, whichever is later. There is no requirement to pay out unused hours upon end of employment, but if the employee is rehired with 120 days, any previous unused balance must be reinstated. The leave can only be used for specified sick or safety issues described in the law. A poster explaining employees’ rights must be posted at the worksite, and a model poster has been made available by the City. If there is an employee handbook, then the notice of rights must be included therein. The paystub must include the balance of SST hours accrued and available and the total number of SST hours used. The text of the Bloomington ordinance is available here and the FAQs and model poster are available here.