Key issues: Workplace mandates
Our approach
Minnesota’s economy is at an inflection point, and yet the cost of doing business in the state increased significantly as a result of the 2023-2024 Legislative Sessions. After a record-setting number of new labor mandates, workplace restrictions, and business taxes that threaten long-term business vitality were enacted last biennium, Minnesota Chamber members are increasingly pessimistic about the economic outlook and disapproving of the state’s leadership. According to the Minnesota Chamber’s annual statewide business community survey in 2024, the percentage of Chamber Members who say they plan to leave Minnesota is at its highest point since 2019. Lower taxes, better business climate, and the political direction of the state are the top-cited reasons to leave (all up from 2023 levels).
Business community priorities
- Defend private sector flexibility to determine wages, benefits, scheduling employee classification and hiring decisions and tools.
- Oppose reclassifying independent contractors as employees.
- Improve structural regulatory and compliance environment.
- Support explicit statewide preemption of local labor ordinances; oppose establishment of labor standards boards.
- Ensure regulatory changes proposed through Minnesota’s state agencies consider impacts on Minnesota employers; pursue modifications to overreaching new laws.
- Oppose unreasonable regulations; streamline occupational licensing.
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2025 outcomes
Business priorities
- Fixes to Earned Sick and Safe Time
- Repeal the “more generous PTO” change
- Address misuse and workability concerns
- Allow pro-rating for frontloading hours
- Relief for new businesses and small business
- Fixes to Paid Family Medical Leave
- Program launch delay
- Limit scope and improve program integrity
- Reduced total number of weeks
- Tightened definition of "family"
- Reduced weekly benefit formula
- Reduced payroll tax cap
- Encourage viability and function of private plans
- Seasonal employee fix
- Reasonable exemptions
Policies we opposed
- Unemployment Insurance for striking workers
- Increasing Minnesota’s minimum wage to $15/hour in 2025 and increasing to $20/hour by 2029
- Employers required to disclose in job postings whether employee health plan options comply with state cost-sharing limits
- Collective bargaining rights for transportation network company drivers
- Removal of employee classification safe harbor
- Additional tax enactment on certain corporations with high principal executive officer to median worker pay ratios
- Rebuttable presumption that an individual is an employee
- Holiday overtime pay requirement
- “Stay-or-pay” provisions prohibition
Outcomes
- “Administrative” modifications to the sick and safe time mandate regarding notice, documentation and advancing hours
- A reduction in the paid family and medical leave mandate’s payroll tax cap to 1.1%, down from 1.2%
- No new workplace mandates
