Frequently asked questions for individuals and families

Minnesota Paid Leave is a state-run insurance program that provides payments and job protections when people need to care for themselves or their loved ones. Much like private insurance, the program is funded through premiums that are split between employers and employees. You can apply for leave when you have a qualifying life event, like a serious medical condition or welcoming a new child. If your application is approved, the state will pay you a portion of your usual wages during your leave and your job will be protected while you are away from work.

Paid Leave benefits will be available starting January 1, 2026.

Paid Leave payments are made by the State of Minnesota, directly to you. You will be able to receive payments through direct deposit or through a debit card.

Paid Leave coverage is very broad. Paid Leave covers nearly every employer, regardless of business size, revenue, or number of employees. It covers nearly every employee – including full time, part time, temporary, and most seasonal workers.

Independent contractors, self-employed individuals, and Tribal Nations are not covered by the program, but they can opt in. Federal government employees, seasonal hospitality employees that have been notified they are exempt by their employer, and railroad employees are not covered for their work at those jobs, and cannot opt in.

It depends on where your work is performed. You are covered by Paid Leave if you work at least 50 percent of the time from a location in Minnesota. This includes employees who work from home in Minnesota or spend some time working in other states. However, you are not covered by Paid Leave if you work more than 50 percent of your time in a different state.

If you do not work at least 50 percent of the time in any single state – for example, if you split your time equally between Minnesota and two other states – you are covered if you live in Minnesota.

To qualify for Paid Leave payments, you must meet all of the following:

1. You have a qualifying event. This means something has happened that makes you unable to work, such as:

• A serious health condition
• Welcoming a new child
• Caring for a loved one
• Managing a family member's active duty
• Safety concerns like domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking

2. You earned enough in the past year. You must have earned at least $3,700 (or 5.3% of the state's average annual wage) during the last 12 months.
3. A health care or service provider confirms the need for leave. They must fill out a form confirming your condition or need for time off.
4. You haven't already used up your leave for the year (12 weeks of medical leave, 12 weeks of family leave, or 20 weeks total of both types of leave).

Yes, Paid Leave offers job protections after 90 calendar days from the date of hire. This means that if you qualify, your employer must return you to your same job (or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, and work conditions) after your leave ends.

Paid Leave will be available starting in January 2026.

The process for applying for Paid Leave will begin with a conversation between you and your employer. You should notify your employer of your intention to take leave using their time and attendance processes prior to applying to the division. This conversation can include discussing options available to you including other benefits you may be eligible for during your leave and how you plan to use leave.

If your leave isn't planned in advance, you can still apply for leave as soon as you know you need it. If you are applying after your needed leave has already begun, your application can be back-dated.

After this conversation, you will be able to apply for Paid Leave online. You will need to share:

• Information about yourself and your job
• The reason and the type of leave you are applying for
• The expected length of leave
• Certification from a medical professional, service provider or other supporting documentation about the reason for your leave.

All leaves under the program require certification – which means a health care professional or service provider needs to provide documentation that the leave is necessary.

• For medical leave, a health care provider will need to complete a certification form that demonstrates your serious health care condition prevents you from performing your regular job and the amount of time needed.
• For caring leave, to care for a family member, your family member's health care provider will need to complete a certification form that demonstrates that your care is medically necessary, and the amount of time needed.
• For bonding leave, to welcome a child into your home, you will need documentation completed by a health care professional, adoption agency, or foster care agency that demonstrates the child has arrived or been placed in your home.
• For military family leave, you will need copy of the active duty orders or other official military document that shows your family member is about to be deployed for duty.
• For safety leave, you will need documentation that includes proof of the need for leave. This could include a letter from a qualified professional (such as a domestic violence advocate, counselor, or attorney), a police report, or a restraining order or other court order. This document does not require detailed information about what happened, only that safety leave is required.

No, there is no waiting period for Paid Leave payments. Unlike some other programs where you must take the first week off without pay, Minnesota Paid Leave is designed to pay you from the start of your leave. Once your leave is approved, you will be paid for each week you are on leave.

Yes, part-time employees are covered under Paid Leave.

Yes, you can take leave from one or more employers at one time assuming the qualifying condition prevents you from performing your regular work. Your weekly benefit will be calculated based on the wages you earn from the employer(s) from whom you are taking leave.

Self-employed individuals are not required to participate in the program; however, they will be able to opt in to coverage beginning in 2025.  If you are a self-employed individual and opt in, you will pay premiums annually and will be covered under Minnesota Paid Leave for at least two years, or until you opt out. To opt in, you will need to provide documentation of your net earnings.

We know you may have access to other benefits during a leave for work and you should talk with your employer about how to coordinate these benefits alongside Paid Leave.

Your employer may offer to "top off" your benefits by allowing you to use partial PTO, sick, or vacation days to make up the difference between your Paid Leave benefits and your regular pay – however, they are not required to do offer this.

If your employer does not offer the ability to "top off" your benefits, you are still able to use your PTO, sick, and vacation time during a leave – but for any day you're receiving these payments, you will not receive a benefit payment from Paid Leave.

Yes, you can receive short-term disability payments at the same time as receiving benefits from Paid Leave. It is important to note that while the Paid Leave division will not decrease the benefit you receive, your short-term disability provider may be entitled to reduce the benefit that they pay to you.

You cannot receive Paid Leave payments while also receiving some other types of benefits. These include:

• Unemployment insurance payments
• Workers' Compensation
• Social Security disability benefits (in most circumstances).

In a single benefit year, you can take:

• Up to 12 weeks of medical leave for your own serious health condition; or
• Up to 12 weeks of family leave
  • to care for a loved one;
  • bond with a new child;  
  • your own safety; or
  • for military family leave

If you need both family and medical leave during a benefit year, you can take up to 20 weeks of total combined leave.

A benefit year is a 52-week period that starts on the first day you are absent from work for a qualified reason.

No. You can take leave in a single block of time (continuous leave) or a in smaller blocks of time (intermittent leave). This flexibility is built into Paid Leave to fit different needs.

For example,

• If you have a surgery and need to be completely out of work for 6 weeks, that's a continuous leave.
• If you have a chronic condition or a family member who needs transportation to recurring treatments, you might only need to take a day or a few hours off each week. That's intermittent leave.

You should discuss what leave schedule you might need with the health care provider or other professional certifying your leave.

Your employer must allow you to take at least 480 hours of leave in a year as intermittent leave. If you need additional leave in a benefit year, up to the maximum of 20 weeks, your employer may allow you to take additional time as intermittent leave or can require this additional time to be taken as continuous leave.

If you take intermittent leave, you will get paid for the time you actually take off from work, whether that's a few hours, a day, or more.

Your weekly payment will be based on how much leave you use that week. For example, if you take one day off in a week, your payment will reflect one day's worth of your usual wages, not the full week.

You will need to regularly report the hours or days you were on leave. Paid Leave will use that information to calculate your payment.

Yes, you can take leave for more than one reason in the same year. For example, you could take 8 weeks of medical leave to recover from surgery, and then later take 12 weeks of family leave to care for a new child.

Remember, you cannot exceed 12 weeks for either medical or family leave, or more than 20 weeks combined in a benefit year.

Yes, you can take bonding leave in 2026, as long as the leave is completed within 12 months of the child's birth, adoption, or foster placement. This means that parents who welcome a child in 2025 may each take up to 12 weeks of bonding leave in 2026.

For example, parents who welcome a child on June 1, 2025, would have between January 1, 2026 and June 1, 2026 to take up to 12 weeks each of bonding leave. Parents who welcome a child on March 1, 2025 would need to take their leave between January 1, 2026 and March 1, 2026. This means they would have time to take up to 8 weeks of bonding leave each.

Yes, Minnesota Paid Leave does not require the family member you are caring for to live with you, near you, or within Minnesota. Certification will come from the family member's health care provider and specify that you are taking leave to care for them.

Under Paid Leave, a family member can include:

• Spouse or partner
• Child (including biological, adopted, step, or foster children, or a child you raise even if you are not legally related)
• Parent or person who raised you
• Sibling
• Grandchild or grandparent
• In-laws (including son, daughter, father, or mother)
• Anyone close to you who depends on you like family, even if not related by blood

In your application, you will provide information on your relationship to the person you'll care for on family leave.

You can take Paid Leave to:

• Care for your own serious health condition
• Bond with a child
• Care for a loved one who has a serious health condition
• Support a family member called to active duty
• Respond to certain personal safety issues

All Paid Leave applications will require certification, which is a document from a healthcare provider or a service provider that supports your need for leave.

Paid Leave is paid for by premiums split between the employer and employee. This is similar to how health insurance premiums often work.

By law, employers have to cover at least half of the premium cost, and they can deduct the other half from your wages. Your employer may choose to pay more than half of their premium share, but is not required to do so. Employers can begin to deduct your share of the premium on January 1, 2026, when benefits become available.

You can estimate how much will be deducted from your paycheck for Paid Leave with the Premium Calculator.

Your paycheck may start showing deductions in January 2026.

No. If you work in covered employment in Minnesota, you are automatically enrolled. You cannot opt out. It is your choice whether to apply for and take Paid Leave if you experience a qualifying condition.

Employers can use an equivalent plan if it offers employees the same or better coverage as Minnesota Paid Leave. In this case, you'll still be able to use paid leave, but payments will come from your employer or a private insurance carrier instead of the state.

If your employer chooses to offer an equivalent plan, they are legally required to notify you about the plan and its details. Your employer cannot charge you more for an equivalent plan than what your premiums would be under the state plan. You have the same rights and protections under Paid Leave, even if your employer offers an equivalent plan.

You can find more information by browsing the Paid Leave website, including our toolkit for individuals and families. You can also sign up for program updates through our Individuals and Families newsletter.