Last year’s Minnesota legislative session resulted in a 1,000-page omnibus bill that included significant changes to the state’s labor and employment laws. As this year’s legislative session comes to a close, we predict a...more
5/12/2025
/ Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Governor Walz ,
New Legislation ,
Penalties ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retaliation ,
Service Animals ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
After controlling Minnesota’s House, Senate, and governorship since 2023, the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Party’s legislative and gubernatorial “trifecta” at the state capitol is no more....more
4/4/2025
/ Earned Sick Time ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Independent Contractors ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Safe Leave ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws
On April 2, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a truck driver who lost his job after testing positive for marijuana may pursue claims for lost wages under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt...more
4/3/2025
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Damages ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Litigation ,
False Advertising ,
Lost Wages ,
Marijuana ,
RICO ,
SCOTUS
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MNDOLI) recently issued proposed rules for governing Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time Law (ESST). The proposed rules are open for public comment through April 2, 2025....more
3/19/2025
/ Comment Period ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Paid Leave ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Safe Leave ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Departments ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
With Election Day approaching, here is a timely reminder for employers in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota regarding their obligations under these states’ laws to excuse employees from work to go to the polls....more
May 20, 2024, marked the end of the legislative session for yet another historic and busy year for Minnesota’s legislature. Amidst endless shouting, a sprawling 1,400-plus-page omnibus bill, and ethical complaints, the...more
6/10/2024
/ Credit Cards ,
Data Privacy ,
Earned Sick Time ,
Governor Walz ,
Human Rights Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Jury Duty ,
Minimum Salary ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Parental Leave ,
Pregnancy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Salary Caps ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures
In the homestretch of Minnesota’s 2024 legislative session, tension has mounted in St. Paul as state House and Senate committees scramble to secure enough votes to place their bills on Governor Tim Walz’s desk for signature....more
As the Minnesota Legislature enters the latter half of its 2023–2024 legislative session, the pressure is on to meet critical deadlines before adjournment on May 20, 2024. House and Senate committees are racing against the...more
4/17/2024
/ Compliance ,
Earned Sick Time ,
Job Ads ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Safe Leave ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Service Contracts ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Strike ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour
The Minnesota Legislature is back in session and actively addressing employment law legislation in several pending bills following a very busy 2023–2024 session last year. The legislature kicked off its 2024 regular session...more
3/28/2024
/ Earned Sick and Safe Time Act ,
Earned Sick Time ,
Human Rights Act ,
Job Ads ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Safe Time ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Strike ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour
Looking ahead to January 1, 2024, when Minnesota’s statewide paid Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) law takes effect, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MNDOLI) issued guidance in the form of answers to frequently...more
Minnesota recently enacted a statewide paid sick and safe time leave law that will become effective on January 1, 2024.
Four Minnesota cities—Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Bloomington (one of the largest...more
Hospitality and event center workers received additional job rights protection under a new ordinance passed by the Minneapolis City Council. The new ordinance requires employers to recall those workers, if and when they are...more
Minnesota employers will be heading back to the drawing board to revise their handbook disclaimers. The Minnesota Supreme Court now requires specific language in policies that set out the terms and conditions for payment of...more
Now that the Minnesota Supreme Court has settled the issue of applying the Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time (SST) ordinance to employers “with no physical presence in Minneapolis,” what does this mean for employers with...more
The City of Minneapolis’s Sick and Safe Time Ordinance requiring employers with employees who perform at least 80 hours of work in a year in the city with paid time off for illness or other personal matters does not conflict...more
Continuing its independent program of workplace regulations, Minneapolis has enacted its own wage theft ordinance and accompanying notice requirements that largely duplicate Minnesota’s wage theft statute. Employers that have...more
In late July 2019, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) released an update to its FAQ on Minnesota’s new wage theft law, including 37 new questions and answers to further clarify what is expected of employers...more
9/4/2019
/ Bonuses ,
Earnings Reports ,
Joint Employers ,
New Guidance ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Seasonal Employment ,
Seasonal Workers ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
Joining a chorus of cities and states addressing concerns involving employers’ failure to properly calculate employees’ pay, or to pay them at all, allowing employees to work “off the clock,” or take unauthorized or illegal...more
In our previous article, we summarized the key provisions of Minnesota’s new “wage theft” law. This article focuses specifically on the notices and disclosures employers are required to provide to their employees under the...more
The Minnesota Legislature wrapped up its 2019 legislative session with a one-day special session last month that resulted in the passage of an omnibus appropriations bill, the Jobs and Economic Development Omnibus. The...more
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a nonintoxicating compound found in both marijuana and hemp that can be extracted and combined with oil for ingestion or inhalation through the use of a vaporizer. In recent months, retailers in many...more
5/30/2019
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Farm Bill ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Hemp ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana
As the 2019 regular session of the Minnesota Legislature draws to a close, lawmakers in St. Paul are deadlocked on the budget bill. As a result, many of the bills we reported on in our previous articles are stalled in...more
In the latest chapter of the Minneapolis Sick and Safe time ordinance saga, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has ended an injunction issued by a lower court that limited the ordinance to employers located within the city of...more
The Minnesota Supreme Court recently issued two decisions affecting employers in the state. In one, the high court overruled a 30-year-old precedent that excluded disabilities covered by the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation...more
In part one of this series, we reported on several legislative developments in Minnesota that could impact employers. Now the Minnesota Legislature has proposed more bills affecting the workplace....more
4/1/2019
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
Preemption ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Right to Work ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft