Minnesota’s Paid Family Medical Leave program, set to fully launch Jan. 1, will open applications Wednesday to those who welcomed a child in 2025.
Gov. Tim Walz visited one of the small businesses that has opted into the state’s program — Marty’s Deli in Northeast Minneapolis — on Tuesday to celebrate the program’s opening for new parents come Wednesday.
“It’s basically an insurance program for you that allows you again to take care of what you need to take care of without being forced to choose between your family, your bonding with your child, your own health and your economic well-being, because in Minnesota, you can do both, and we prove that time and time again,” he said.
The program, which offers up to 12 weeks for both medical and family leave — with a total limit of 20 weeks a year — opens for all applicants on Jan. 1.
It will launch with a 0.88% payroll tax. Employers can collect up to 0.44% from employees or can choose to cover more, according to the Department of Employment and Economic Development.
Martha Polacek, who started Marty’s Deli in 2020 as a pop-up and opened the store in 2022, said Tuesday she welcomed a new daughter, Nell, just five weeks ago.
“Because of this paid family leave, I’m going to be looking forward to some time with her that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to spend,” she said. “I’ve kind of spoken to a lot of my small business owner friends in the area who’ve told stories of bringing their kids to work with them after just a week or two.”
Polacek said besides being able to spend more time with her baby, she’s more excited about what she can now offer her employees with the state’s help, rather than opting for a separate plan.
“Obviously, as a small business, every expense counts, but this small, shared contribution is so much less than what it would cost me to offer this kind of leave” without it, she said.
DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek said Tuesday that previously, 75% of Minnesotans were not afforded a paid leave benefit. Now, nearly all Minnesotans will have access to the benefit, with a few exceptions like seasonal workers, he explained.
Varilek said employers who select a private plan need that plan to be “validated and verified as being at least as generous as the state program.” The state offers between 55% and 90% of regular wages while on leave, with a maximum amount set at the state’s average wage — $1,423 per week.
Roughly 7,000 employers have selected a private plan, according to DEED. The state program will launch with “well north” of $500 million in the bank from 2023 legislative appropriations and interest, said Evan Rowe, deputy commissioner for workforce services and transformation with DEED.
The program is estimated to cost the state roughly $1.6 billion annually, according to Rowe, who cited a Milliman Public Pension Funding Study.
Some Republican lawmakers are wary that the paid leave program could become a target of fraud.
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