What is Sick and Safe Time?

Sick and safe time is a law requiring employers to provide and pay for access to time off because working-while-sick endangers everyone. Investment in people grows businesses and healthier communities. 

​Protection includes illness or injury, medical treatment or preventative care, domestic or sexual assault, and care of a family member.​​

 All types of employees - including part-time, temporary or undocumented - are included. In general, it is compensated at normal base rates of pay and affects employers that do not already provide comparable or more generous paid time off.

In 2024, the State of Minnesota expanded earned sick and safe time to cover employees all across the state. The city ordinance mirrors these protections, providing an avenue to remedy violations in the city. 

report a violation in Minneapolis

Fast Facts for Employers
​and Employees

Why was the Sick and Safe Time Ordinance created?

The ordinance is intended to allow employees to care for themselves and family members, making Minneapolis a healthier, more secure, and more productive community. 

What information ARE EMPLOYers required to give to employees?

There are three general categories of information that employers are required to give their employees under the ordinance:

• Policy notice – This provides employees (“sick and safe time employee notice”) with information about how sick and safe time (or equivalent leave) works at a particular employer. See FAQs #40 - #44.
• Poster – The City of Minneapolis publishes downloadable copies of its poster online. See FAQ #45.
• Earnings statements – Employers must include certain accrual and use information on the employees’ earnings statements (or provide the information through a reasonable notification system). See FAQ #46.

See the "Employer Resources" page for downloadable templates and more information.
​

What information must be included on earnings statements (pay stubs)? ​

At the end of each pay period employers must provide employees with both:
 

• The total number of sick and safe time hours available for the employee to use; and 
• The total number of sick and safe time hours that the employee used during that pay period. 

 
Employers can choose how to provide this information, such as on an earnings statement or through an electronic system, including their company's online portal, timekeeping software or other accessible systems. If the information is provided electronically, employers must ensure that employees have access to a computer during their regular working hours to review and print their sick and safe time details.

How much time off work does the Sick and Safe Time Ordinance guarantee an employee?

The minimum rate at which an employee accrues sick and safe time is 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. An employer may cap an employee's accrual at 48 hours per year. An employer may also limit the total amount of unused sick and safe time in an employee’s “bank” to 80 hours during subsequent years. An employee who has reached 80 hours will accrue sick and safe time again only after they use some of the hours they have in the “bank.” These two limits, 48 hours per benefit year and a maximum accrual cap of 80 hours (counting the sick and safe time hours carried over from prior years and the current year), operate simultaneously. These limits may be higher if an employer chooses, but not lower. See frequently asked questions for more details.

If an employee has accrued but unused sick and safe time hours at the end of a year, the employer may choose one of the following options:

• Option (1) Carry over: Carry over accrued but unused sick and safe time into the following calendar year for the employee to use. (Please note that employers may cap accrual of sick and safe time at eighty (80) hours or allow their employees to accrue even more.) • Option (2) Pay out & front-load 48: An employer can choose to “pay out” (at the employee’s base rate of pay) its employee at the end of a year for their accrued but unused sick and safe time, but, if they do so, they must also front-load the employee with at least forty-eight (48) hours of sick and safe time at the beginning of the following year.
• Option (3) Reset & front-load 80: An employer can simply choose to “reset” the employee’s accrued but unused sick and safe time hours to eighty (80) hours at the start of the next year. If the employer front-loads eighty (80) hours for the year, the employer does not have to allow carry over and does not need to “pay out” for accrued but unused sick and safe time hours from the previous year.

In summary, employers’ permissible options include the following: (1) carryover of unused hours into the next year, (2) pay out of unused hours at the end of the year plus front-load 48 hours for the next year, OR (3) reset and front-load 80 hours at the beginning of the next year (the maximum amount).  

Can employers give employees more sick leave
​than the amount required by the Sick and Safe Time Ordinance?

Yes. Employers may provide more generous benefits. The Sick and Safe Time Ordinance sets a minimum requirement, not a maximum. In other words, it creates a floor, not a ceiling.

Does PTO count as sick and safe time?

The name of an employer’s paid time off plan or other leave policy does not matter. A PTO plan (or any other type of leave, including sick or vacation) can satisfy the Sick and Safe Time Ordinance requirements if the plan: (1) provides employees at least as much leave as required by the ordinance; and (2) allows employees to use the leave for all of the reasons and under the same conditions required by the ordinance. Some existing plans and procedures may need changes to fulfill the minimum thresholds set by the ordinance.
 
Note: If an employer provides employees with any paid time off (PTO) or other paid leave and it is available for personal illness or injury (not including short-term or long-term or other salary continuation benefits such as MN Paid Leave) all of that PTO or other paid leave must meet the requirements of the Sick and Safe Time Ordinance when it is used by the employee for sick and safe time reasons.
 
            Scenario #1:
 
An employer offers 80 hours of PTO per year. Does it need to begin referring to its PTO as “sick and safe time”? No. The law does not require explicit reference to any employee programs or leave as “sick and safe time”. The name used does not matter. The amounts and conditions of use for time off work determine whether or not a PTO policy (or other equivalent leave) complies with the Sick and Safe Time Ordinance. For example, advance notice requirements for approval of PTO when used for vacation cannot be applied in a case of sudden illness. See the frequently asked questions sections entitled “Employee Accountability and Access” for more information.
 
Scenario #2:
 
Employee Edwin has worked for several years and accumulates 200 hours of unused sick leave or PTO. Edwin’s employer must follow sick and safe time requirements regarding notice, documentation, anti-retaliation, replacement workers and more for all of those 200 hours when or if Edwin uses any of them for a sick and safe time purpose.

Are there templates available to help employers draft sick and safe time policy notices?

A Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry sick and safe time policy “employee notice” sample template is available below. Employers may use their own form or format as long as it contains all of the required information.
 
Please note that the downloadable sample template (“sick and safe time employee notice”) requires employers to edit it, including certain details of their employer-specific policy. It is not sufficient for an employee to simply download the template and distribute it to employees without editing it.

Many employers providing PTO, sick leave, vacation or other types of leave already provide such information in writing to employees.

Must an employee specifically ask to use “sick and safe time”? 

No. An employee is not required to specifically ask for “sick and safe time” or reference the Sick and Safe Time Ordinance when requesting sick and safe time hours.  Employees simply must provide enough information for the employer to reasonably know of the employee’s need for an absence for a reason covered by the ordinance. It can be as simple as “I am sick and need to miss my shift today.” If an employee calls in sick, the employer should assume the employee intends to use accrued sick and safe time, unless the employee asks the employer to consider another arrangement.
 
Note: Employees must follow any lawful advanced notice requirement established by the employer which has been provided to employees in written form.
 
Note: It is unlawful for an employer to have a policy or practice, whether official or unofficial, of withholding, denying, hiding, ignoring, or not compensating the use of sick and safe time or not providing sick and safe time.

​Are employers required to pay out unused sick and safe time at the end of an employment relationship?

​No. Nothing in the Sick and Safe Time Ordinance requires employers to pay out unused sick and safe time hours at the time the employment relationship is terminated. However, employers may choose to do so. 

Where can i report a violation?

Please click HERE to report a violation (or "employee resources" in the navigation bar or "report a violation" at the top of the screen.)

EMPLOYEE RESOURCES

EMPLOYER RESOURCES

Consultation? Questions?​​
Email us or dial 311 today.
We're happy to help.

Important Dates and Announcements

Effective January 2026, the city ordinance has been amended to align even more closely with existing statewide (earned sick and safe time) law. The city ordinance does not require duplicative or additional time off above or beyond the amounts protected under state law. Alignment between local and state sick and safe time strengthens enforcement and makes implementation for everyone easier.

Click here for a map of the City of Minneapolis.