On Wednesday, May 9, 2018, the Minnesota District Court (Hennepin County) upheld the status quo (remember the temporary injunction I wrote about earlier), finally determining that state law does not preempt the Minneapolis Sick & Safe Leave Ordinance, but the Ordinance cannot be enforced by Minneapolis outside the geographic boundaries of the City of Minneapolis.

In March 2018, in response to the temporary injunction, Minneapolis amended the Ordinance as follows to narrow its geographic reach: “employees accrue a minimum of one (1) hour of sick and safe time for every thirty (30) hours worked within the geographic boundaries of the city up to a maximum of forty-eight (48) hours in a calendar year…” Further, “an employer is only required to allow an employee to use sick and safe time that is accrued pursuant to this ordinance when the employee is scheduled to perform work within the geographic boundaries of the city…” The Court, however, decided that the revisions still exceed the City’s territorial authority.  As a result, the Ordinance only applies to employers located within the geographic bounds of Minneapolis. The City may appeal this decision to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, so until that deadline is over, we won’t know if this is a done deal (but it is the law for now).

Keep in mind, employers located within the city of Minneapolis must still comply with the Ordinance.  If you are a Minneapolis-based employer and haven’t done so already, be sure to check your handbook and paid time off policy to be sure it is compliant with the Ordinance’s accrual rates, carry-over rules, and employee notice requirements. Additionally, as I blogged about earlier, Duluth employers should be aware that Duluth may only be a month away from enacting its own Earned Sick and Safe Time Ordinance, which is expected to pass.