Earned Sick and Safe Time Updates Approved by Senate Committee

The Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Committee heard a bill that would make several changes to the earned sick and safe time law, but still does not address concerns over the law’s impact on paid on-call and volunteer positions.

SF 3787 (Sen. Sandra Pappas, DFL-St. Paul) was heard in the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Committee on March 14. The bill would make several changes to the earned sick and safe time (ESST) law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The proposed changes include:

• Specifying certain remedies, including holding an employer liable to all employees who were not provided or not allowed to use ESST if the employer was found to not have provided ESST pursuant to the law. If an employer lacks the required records, the employer is liable to the impacted employee for an amount equal to 48 hours of ESST at the employee’s regular rate of pay plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages.
• Removing the requirement that accrued and used ESST hours be included on an earning statement. Instead, the bill would require that an employer provide a statement to employees at the end of each pay period containing this information using a reasonable system of communication that can include electronic systems or earnings statements.
• Changing the requirement to pay ESST at the same hourly rate as an employee earns to an employee’s regular rate of pay.
• Changing the definition of employee to mean any person anticipated by the employer to perform work for at least 80 hours per year.
• Adding funeral and memorial services and other arrangements related to the death of a family member to the list of applicable uses of ESST.
• Requiring that any sick time provided by an employer in excess of the law’s requirements meet or exceeds the standards required under the ESST law.

League testimony on the expansion of ESST requirements to all sick leave

The League provided testimony regarding a provision in the bill that would require that any sick time provided by an employer, even that beyond the requirements of the law, must meet or exceed the required standards in the ESST law.

View a video of the committee hearing (League testimony beginning at 26:16).

Discussion of paid on-call and volunteer firefighters

Testimony on the bill also included representatives from the Minnesota Association of Small Cities speaking to the complexities of applying the law to paid on-call and volunteer fire and emergency services and the current lack of guidance on how to address these issues.

Cities have been experiencing challenges applying the law’s requirements to paid on-call and volunteer fire and emergency medical responders due to how the positions are structured, compensated, and scheduled. The testifiers discussed how clarity is needed in the law to provide cities guidance on how to comply with the requirements for these positions or exempt them from the program entirely.

The League submitted a letter to the committee in partnership with the Minnesota Association of Small Cities, Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, Minnesota Fire Association Coalition, and Minnesota Ambulance Association detailing the complex nature of these positions.

Read the letter submitted by the League and partner organizations (pdf).

Next steps for the bill

SF 3787 was approved by the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Committee and referred to the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. Its companion, HF 3882 (Rep. Liz Olson, DFL-Duluth), was approved by the House Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee on Feb. 22 and referred to the general register.

League staff continues to work with legislators to identify potential legislation to address the existing issues surrounding paid on-call and volunteer fire and emergency services, along with working with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry to obtain clearer guidance on how the law would be applied to these unique positions.

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