Since Connecticut’s 2011 passage of the first law requiring employers to issue paid sick leave benefits, over 30 states, counties, and cities — mostly on the East and West coasts — have enacted similar statues. These include Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Vermont, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, and Philadelphia. Chicago and Minneapolis have also passed paid leave ordinances.
On September 7, 2016 Saint Paul, Minnesota joined its Twin City in following this bi-coastal trend when its City Council unanimously passed a paid sick time ordinance. Under the new St. Paul Ordinance, employees may earn up to 48 hours of sick time per year with the option of carrying over hours into the following year. No more than 80 hours may be accrued at any time. The St. Paul Ordinance contains no express limit on the amount of paid sick time that an employee can use in a year.
As is the case in other states in which multiple paid sick leave laws have been passed by local governments, St. Paul and Minneapolis’ ordinances differ in material respects. First, while the Minneapolis Ordinance exempts businesses with five or fewer employees, the St. Paul Ordinance applies to businesses of all sizes. The St. Paul Ordinance also provides for a private right of action against employers for retaliation, while the Minneapolis Ordinance currently does not. Duluth has now also begun exploring its own individualized sick leave ordinance, which could potentially lead to more inconsistency within the State.
Both before and after its passage, members of the business community as well as the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce asked the St. Paul City Council to consider amending the Ordinance to align with Minneapolis’ small company exemption, and to include additional exemptions for highly-compensated part-time workers and student workers at private colleges. Those requests were rejected.
The St. Paul ordinance will take effect July 1, 2017 for employers with 24 or more employees and January 1, 2018 for employers with fewer than 24 employees.
Employers operating in various locations around the country need to be alert to these local ordinances, which are not always consistent. Shying away from the coasts is no longer a reliable method of avoiding the imposition of these costs upon employers. Accordingly, covered employers should review their policies and handbooks carefully to ensure compliance with the various paid sick leave laws across the country.