Frequently asked questions for healthcare and social service providers

Minnesota Paid Leave is a state-run insurance program that provides payments and job protections when people need time off work to care for themselves or their loved ones. People can apply for leave when they have a qualifying life event, like a serious medical condition or a new child. The program allows Minnesotans to take paid time off at some of the most important moments of their lives.

Paid Leave will be available starting January 1, 2026.

There are two types of leave: Medical Leave and Family Leave.

• People can take Medical Leave to care for their own serious health condition.
• People can take Family Leave to:
  • Bond with a new child
  • Care for a loved one who has a serious health condition
  • Support a family member called to active duty
  • Respond to safely concerns like domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking

In one benefit year, an individual can take up to 12 weeks of Medical Leave, or up to 12 weeks of Family Leave.

If someone needs both types of leave during a single benefit year, they can take up to 20 weeks of total combined leave.

No. These are three different programs.

Under Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST), employees earn paid time off (PTO). This time off is generally used for short absences, and it is paid by their employer.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons. FMLA and Paid Leave may be taken at the same time, but the requirements for the two programs are different.

Healthcare providers are essential to Paid Leave. We rely on the information you give us to determine whether an individual qualifies for leave. 

As a provider, you will be responsible for:

• Certifying that your patient has a qualifying life event and indicating how much time they need off work.
• Certifying that your patient has a qualifying life event that requires their family member to care for them and indicating how much time the family member needs off work.

You are also an important messenger to your patients. Whether they are planning a birth or having an emergency procedure, you can tell them about Paid Leave at the point of care – and help them understand how Paid Leave could aid their recovery.

For Paid Leave, a healthcare provider is someone who is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized to practice in one or more fields of medicine or healthcare. Healthcare providers may only certify conditions that fall within their scope of practice.

This includes physicians, doctors of osteopathic medicine, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, advanced practice registered nurses, licensed midwives, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists, surgeons, chiropractors (for certain treatments), clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, mental health professionals as defined by the state, and alcohol and drug counselors as defined by the state.

Yes. Healthcare providers outside Minnesota, including healthcare providers outside of the United States, can certify Paid Leave. They must be authorized to practice under the laws of their state, territory, or country, and they must be practicing within the scope of their expertise. Paid Leave may ask healthcare providers outside Minnesota to provide extra information in order to verify their authorization to practice.

Social service providers can play an important role in Safety Leave. Safety Leave can be taken by anyone who needs time off work to respond to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking. People can take leave for their own needs or to care for a family member.

As a social service provider, you can certify your client's need for Safety Leave. To certify, you will complete a form from Paid Leave, or your client can provide other legal paperwork. You must be acting in your professional role to certify leave. After someone applies, Paid Leave will verify the identity and credentials of the certifier. Your client does not need to share personal or sensitive details about their experience.

You are also an important messenger to your clients. You can tell them about Paid Leave when they come to you – and help them understand how Paid Leave could help them and their family through a difficult time.

Those who can certify Safety Leave include:

• A mental health or healthcare provider
• A domestic abuse or sexual assault advocate
• A victim's advocate from the courts
• A judge, court worker, prosecutor, or probation officer
• A Title IX coordinator (from a school or college)
• A police or peace officer

In order to be eligible to take leave, a patient must have a qualifying event.

• For Medical Leave, a patient must have a serious health condition that lasts at least seven days. These seven days do not need to be consecutive.
• For Bonding Leave, an individual must have welcomed a new child into their home within the past 12 months.
• For Caring Leave, an individual must be needed to care for someone who has a serious health condition that lasts at least seven days. These seven days do not need to be consecutive.
• For Safety Leave, an individual must be facing a personal safety issue, like domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or they must be supporting someone facing a personal safety issue.

A serious health condition is a physical or mental illness, injury, impairment, or condition that prevents someone from working for at least seven days. These seven days do not need to be consecutive (for example, someone with episodic migraines whose condition prevents them from working for seven days over a period of several months). It must include one of the following:

• Inpatient care (an overnight stay in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility), or
• Continuing treatment by a healthcare provider. This may be related to pregnancy, a chronic health condition, a permanent or long-term condition, a condition that requires multiple treatments, or an event that requires follow-up visits.

You can certify physical or mental health conditions where your patient's situation meets the criteria for a "serious health condition" and falls within your scope of practice. Paid Leave does not define or exclude specific diagnoses as serious health conditions. Your certification should be based on your professional assessment and your patient's needs.

As a healthcare provider, you can certify that your patient has a serious health condition and needs care. Your certification must state that your patient has a serious health condition that requires care, the amount of care that they need, and information regarding which family member(s) will be providing that care.

Under Paid Leave, a family member can include:

• Spouse or domestic partner of the applicant
• Child (including biological, adopted, step, or foster children, children of a domestic partner, or children to whom the applicant stands in loco parentis, is a legal guardian, or is a de facto custodian)
• Parent (including biological, adoptive, de facto custodian, or foster parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of an applicant or the applicant's spouse, or an individual who stood in loco parentis to an applicant when the applicant was a child)
• Sibling of the applicant
• Grandchild or grandparent of the applicant
• Sons- or daughters-in-law of the applicant (meaning the spouse of the applicant's child)
• Any other individual who has a personal relationship with the applicant that creates an expectation and reliance that the applicant care for the individual without compensation, whether or not the applicant and the individual reside together.

Yes, if the patient's condition requires it. Family members may take Paid Leave at the same time or sequentially, depending on the patient's and family members' needs. Healthcare providers will need to certify that their patient has a serious health condition that requires care and the individuals approved to provide it.

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

For example,

• If a patient has surgery and needs to be completely out of work for 6 weeks, that's a continuous leave.
• If someone has a family member who needs transportation to recurring treatments, they might only need to take a few hours off each week. That's intermittent leave.

Yes. People 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 as long as the leave is completed within a year of welcoming the child.

People who are pregnant or recovering from birth may be eligible for Medical Leave. If someone takes both Medical and Family Leave in one benefit year, they could take up to 20 weeks total.

If your patient is applying to take a continuous leave for birth and bonding, you will be able to complete a single Birth and Bonding Leave Certification Form.

The certification process is straightforward for healthcare and social service providers to use. We have modeled the certification forms on Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) forms that many providers already use -- and will accept FMLA forms to certify Paid Leave when applicable.

You will be able to fill out certification forms on paper or complete them digitally using a fillable PDF. We are continuously working to make this process easier and more efficient for providers and those they serve. 

The form you submit will depend on what kind of leave an individual needs. Paid Leave will also accept FMLA forms to certify leave when applicable.

• When your patient needs leave for their own serious health condition, fill out a Medical Leave Certification Form.
• When your patient needs Bonding Leave after the birth of a child, they will submit a hospital discharge document, birth certificate, or letter from a healthcare provider. These must include a provider signature.
• When your patient needs Medical Leave due to pregnancy or recovery from birth and Bonding Leave, using both leaves continuously, fill out a Birth and Bonding Certification Form.
• When your patient has a serious health condition that requires someone to care for them, fill out a Caring Leave Certification Form.
• When your patient or client, or their family member, is facing a personal safety issue like domestic violence or stalking, fill out a Safety Leave Certification Form.

You will need to include different information depending on what kind of leave the applicant needs.

• For Medical Leave, you will need to provide information about your patient's serious health condition, how it affects their ability to do their job, how much time they will need off work, and on what schedule.
• For Caring Leave, you will need to certify that your patient has a serious health condition that requires care and provide information about the type of care your patient needs from the family member who is applying for leave.
• For Safety Leave, you will need to certify that the applicant is a survivor of sexual assault, domestic abuse, or stalking, or is caring for a family member who is.  
• For Bonding Leave after birth, the hospital discharge document, birth certificate, or letter must include the child's name and date of birth, the parents' names who will take leave, and a provider signature.

If your patient or their family member is applying for intermittent leave, you must include an estimate of how often they will need to take leave and how much leave they will need each week.

You will also need to provide details about yourself, your practice, and your license to practice within your field.

People on leave may return to work before their approved leave ends. Paid Leave does not require any action from a provider for someone to return to work early. 

In this situation, your patient must notify Paid Leave and their employer at least two business days before returning to work.

A patient's need for leave may change during the course of their treatment. If a patient needs to change their leave schedule, they will be able to do so through a separate application for leave and new certification document.