Hennepin County, MN Employment Preemption: Paid Leave Preemption (2026)

181.9445 DEFINITIONS. Subdivision 1. Definitions. For the purposes of section 177.50 and sections 181.9445 to 181.9448, the terms defined in this section have the meanings given them. Subd. 4. Earned sick and safe time. "Earned sick and safe time" means leave, including paid time off and other paid leave systems, that is paid at the same base rate as an employee earns from employment that may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as provided under section 181.9447, but in no case shall this base rate be less than that provided under section 177.24 or an applicable local minimum wage. Subd. 5. Employee. "Employee" means any person who is employed by an employer, including temporary and part-time employees, who is anticipated by the employer to perform work for at least 80 hours in a year for that employer in Minnesota. Employee does not include: (1) an independent contractor; (2) an individual who is a volunteer firefighter or paid on-call firefighter, with a department charged with the prevention or suppression of fires within the boundaries of the state; is a volunteer ambulance attendant as defined in section 144E.001, subdivision 15; or is an ambulance service personnel as defined in section 144E.001, subdivision 3a, who serves in a paid on-call position; (3) an individual who is an elected official or a person who is appointed to fill a vacancy in an elected office as part of a legislative or governing body of Minnesota or a political subdivision; or (4) an individual employed by a farmer, family farm, or a family farm corporation to provide physical labor on or management of a farm if the farmer, family farm, or family farm corporation employs the individual to perform work for 28 days or less each year.