A bill for an act
relating to employment; providing for earned sick and safe time; requiring a report;
authorizing rulemaking; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2022,
sections 177.27, subdivisions 2, 4, 7; 181.942, subdivision 1; proposing coding
for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapters 177; 181; repealing Minnesota Statutes
2022, section 181.9413.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 181.942, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
(a) An employee returning from a leave of absence
under section 181.941 is entitled to return to employment in the employee's former position
or in a position of comparable duties, number of hours, and pay. An employee returning
from a leave of absence longer than one month must notify a supervisor at least two weeks
prior to return from leave. An employee returning from a leave under section 181.9412 or
deleted text begin 181.9413deleted text end new text begin sections 181.9445 to 181.9448new text end is entitled to return to employment in the employee's
former position.
(b) If, during a leave under sections 181.940 to 181.944, the employer experiences a
layoff and the employee would have lost a position had the employee not been on leave,
pursuant to the good faith operation of a bona fide layoff and recall system, including a
system under a collective bargaining agreement, the employee is not entitled to reinstatement
in the former or comparable position. In such circumstances, the employee retains all rights
under the layoff and recall system, including a system under a collective bargaining
agreement, as if the employee had not taken the leave.
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For the purposes of section 177.50 and sections 181.9445
to 181.9448, the terms defined in this section have the meanings given them.
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"Commissioner" means the commissioner of labor and industry
or authorized designee or representative.
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"Domestic abuse" has the meaning given in section 518B.01.
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"Earned sick and safe time" means leave, including
paid time off and other paid leave systems, that is paid at the same hourly rate as an employee
earns from employment that may be used for the same purposes and under the same
conditions as provided under section 181.9447, but in no case shall this hourly rate be less
than that provided under section 177.24 or an applicable local minimum wage.
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"Employee" means any person who is employed by an employer,
including temporary and part-time employees, who performs work for at least 80 hours in
a year for that employer in Minnesota. Employee does not include an independent contractor.
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"Employer" means a person who has one or more employees.
Employer includes an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an association, a business
trust, a nonprofit organization, a group of persons, the state of Minnesota, a county, town,
city, school district, or other governmental subdivision. In the event that a temporary
employee is supplied by a staffing agency, absent a contractual agreement stating otherwise,
that individual shall be an employee of the staffing agency for all purposes of section 177.50
and sections 181.9445 to 181.9448. Employer does not include the United States government.
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"Family member" means:
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(1) an employee's:
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(i) child, foster child, adult child, legal ward, child for whom the employee is legal
guardian, or child to whom the employee stands or stood in loco parentis;
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(ii) spouse or registered domestic partner;
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(iii) sibling, stepsibling, or foster sibling;
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(iv) biological, adoptive, or foster parent, stepparent, or a person who stood in loco
parentis when the employee was a minor child;
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(v) grandchild, foster grandchild, or stepgrandchild;
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(vi) grandparent or stepgrandparent;
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(vii) a child of a sibling of the employee;
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(viii) a sibling of the parents of the employee; or
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(ix) a child-in-law or sibling-in-law;
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(2) any of the family members listed in clause (1) of a spouse or registered domestic
partner;
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(3) any other individual related by blood or whose close association with the employee
is the equivalent of a family relationship; and
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(4) up to one individual annually designated by the employee.
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"Health care professional" means (1) any person
licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized under federal or state law to provide medical or
emergency services, including doctors, physician assistants, nurses, and emergency room
personnel; or
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(2) any other individual determined by the commissioner by rule, in accordance with
the rulemaking procedures in the Administrative Procedure Act, to be capable of providing
health care services.
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"Prevailing wage rate" has the meaning given in section
177.42 and as calculated by the Department of Labor and Industry.
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"Retaliatory personnel action" means:
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(1) any form of intimidation, threat, reprisal, harassment, discrimination, or adverse
employment action, including discipline, discharge, suspension, transfer, or reassignment
to a lesser position in terms of job classification, job security, or other condition of
employment; reduction in pay or hours or denial of additional hours; the accumulation of
points under an employer's absence control policy or attendance point system; informing
another employer that the person has engaged in activities protected by this chapter; or
reporting or threatening to report the actual or suspected citizenship or immigration status
of an employee, former employee, or family member of an employee to a federal, state, or
local agency; and
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(2) interference with or punishment for participating in any manner in an investigation,
proceeding, or hearing under this chapter.
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"Sexual assault" means an act that constitutes a violation
under sections 609.342 to 609.3453 or 609.352.
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