Parenting Leave Minn. Minn. Stat. § 181.941

Covered Employers: Employers of 21 or more Employees located at least at one worksite and includes a corporation, partnership, association, nonprofit organization, group of persons, state, county, town, city, school district, or other governmental subdivision. The worksite is not required to be in Minnesota.

Employee Eligibility: Employees who have worked for an Employer for at least 12 months preceding the request and for an average number of hours equal to one-half the full-time equivalent position in the Employee's job classification as defined by the employer's personnel policies or practices or pursuant to the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement, during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave. Employees include all individuals employed at any site owned or operated by the employer but does not include an independent contractor. (Note: System has a 20 hours per week requirement and can be edited at the Absence Spec for Org per account as needed).

Entitlement: An employer must grant an unpaid leave of absence to an employee for the birth or adoption of the employee's child or a female employee for prenatal care, or incapacity due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related health conditions.

Benefits: Employers must continue to make insurance or healthcare coverage available to an employee and any dependents while the employee is on leave but the employer is not required to pay the costs of the coverage while the employee is on leave. An employee is entitled to any automatic adjustments in pay that occurred during the leave period.

Length of Leave: The length of the leave shall be determined by the employee, but may not exceed 12 weeks, unless agreed to by the employer. Leave must begin within 12 months after birth or adoption unless the child stays in the hospital longer than the mother, in which case leave must begin within 12 months after the child leaves the hospital.

Employee Notice: An employer may adopt reasonable policies governing the timing of requests for leave, and may require an employee who plans to take leave to provide reasonable notice of the date the leave will commence and the estimated duration of the leave.

Reinstatement: An employee returning from a leave of absence under section 181.941 is entitled to return to employment in the employee's former position or in a position of comparable duties, number of hours, and pay. An employee returning from a leave of absence longer than one month must notify a supervisor at least two weeks prior to return from leave. An employer and employee may agree that the employee return to work part time during the leave period without forfeiting the right to return to the original employment at the end of the leave period. If the employee would have lost his or her position had he or she not been on leave as part of a bona fide layoff, the employee is not entitled to reinstatement but retains all rights under the layoff and recall system.

Paid: No. However, the length of unpaid leave may be reduced by paid accrued vacation or parental, disability, personal, medical or sick leave provided by the employer so that the total leave does not exceed 12 weeks, unless otherwise agreed to by the employer.

Relationship to other leaves: The length of parental leave may be reduced by any period of paid parental or disability leave but not accrued sick leave provided by the employer so that the total leave does not exceed 12 weeks.

Absence Specifications