(St. Paul, MN) — Earned sick-and-safe time for nearly all workers is the law in Minnesota beginning January 1st. Senate bill sponsor, Saint Paul Democrat Sandy Pappas (PAP-us) says Minnesota learned in the pandemic that employees who are sick need to stay home.
She said, “businesses that are especially vulnerable might be restaurants, nursing homes, day care centers — where you can really spread the illness among a wider population.”
But Lauryn Schothorst with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce contends sick-and-safe time is effectively a significant new paid-time-off policy.
She argues, “employers don’t have much control over understanding who’s out when, for what purposes, when they can take legitimate enforcement action against an employee for not showing up to work, and when it’s protected under the law.”