Key issues: Workplace mandates

KEY PRIORITIES
FOR THE 2026 SESSION INCLUDE:

• Defend private sector flexibility to determine wages, benefits, scheduling employee classification and hiring decisions and tools.
• Improve structural regulatory and compliance environment; make swift adjustments to the new paid family and medical leave law if needed as part of implementation.
• Oppose reclassifying independent contractors as employees.
• 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

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