Seasonal hospitality workers

Most seasonal and hospitality workers are covered by Paid Leave. However, you may be able to designate certain workers as seasonal hospitality employees. Employees with this designation cannot take leave from your business, and premiums are not owed on their wages.

Seasonal Hospitality Designation

To designate a seasonal hospitality employee, you will need to apply with the state and meet three criteria:

You must be an employer in the hospitality industry.
Your organization must qualify as seasonal.
Your seasonal hospitality employees must be employed no more than 150 days in a 52-week period.

The designation applies to individual employees, not to your entire business. When someone is designated as a seasonal hospitality employee:

That employee can't take Paid Leave time away from your business.
Premiums are not owed on their wages.

Do I qualify as a hospitality employer?
Paid Leave uses your North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code to determine whether your business is in the hospitality industry. Only businesses that fall under specific hospitality NAICS codes can make this designation.

Hospitality employers include:
- Restaurants, hotels, motels, lodges, resorts
- Food stands, food trucks, school or special event concession stands
- Mobile and seasonal food businesses
Do I qualify as a seasonal employer?
Seasonal employers bring in most of their revenue within six months of the year. To prove you are a seasonal employer, you must submit receipts from the prior calendar year.
- Gross receipts from your six highest months of sales must be three times greater than the receipts from your six lowest months.
- The months do not need to be consecutive.
For example, you would qualify as a seasonal employer if your 2024 gross sales receipts show:
- January to June average sales = $100,000
- July to December average sales = $300,000
You must submit receipts each year to prove you are still seasonal.
What are my responsibilities to seasonal hospitality employees?
If you plan to designate someone as a seasonal hospitality employee, you must:
- Notify the employee in writing. A sample notice is available from Paid Leave in multiple languages.
- Notify them when you offer the job (or by Dec. 1, 2025, if they are already employed).
- Get written or electronic acknowledgement that each employee received this information. If an employee refuses to acknowledge, document how they were notified.
Failure to properly notify employees can result in penalties and loss of the designation.
What are my responsibilities to the state?
Even with an approved designation, you must:
- Submit wage detail reports for all your employees, including seasonal hospitality employees.
- Notify Paid Leave within 5 business days if:
  - You no longer meet the definition of a seasonal employer, or
  - A worker you have designated as a seasonal hospitality employee will be employed more than 150 days. When that happens, the worker is covered by Paid Leave, and you must start paying premiums right away. If you do not notify the state in time, you will owe missed premiums and a penalty.
How do I request a Seasonal Hospitality Designation?
1. Log in to your Employer Account at uimn.org, and follow the prompts to submit a request for a Seasonal Hospitality Designation.
2. After you complete your request, you will be asked to submit receipts to prove you qualify as a seasonal employer.
3. You will also be asked to submit the names of employees who will be designated as seasonal hospitality employees.
What if my business has an equivalent plan for Paid Leave?

Employers with an approved equivalent plan can still request to designate workers as Seasonal Hospitality Employees. This process will still take place through the state, as outlined above.

If you no longer meet the definition of a seasonal employer, or an employee you designated as seasonal hospitality is employed more than 150 days, your equivalent plan must begin coverage immediately.