Are you ready for January 1, 2026?

Minnesota has several employment-law changes taking effect on January 1, 2026. If you employ anyone in Minnesota — even a single part-time worker — most of these apply to you. Here’s the short version of what’s changing, with the practical takeaway for each.

1. Minimum wage increases

The federal minimum wage rises to $10.59/hour. Minnesota’s state minimum becomes $11.41/hour for most employers (the training wage for workers under 20 in their first 90 days drops to $9.31/hour).

Both Minneapolis and St. Paul have set their own citywide minimums at $16.37/hour — higher than the state floor and applicable to work performed in city limits.

What to do: review your pay rates now. Anyone earning under the new applicable minimum needs an adjustment effective with the first pay period in January.

2. Mandatory meal and rest breaks

Minnesota’s break requirements are tightening:

• A 30-minute unpaid meal break is required for any shift of six or more consecutive hours.
• A 15-minute paid rest break is required for every four consecutive hours worked.

What to do: update your handbook and timekeeping practices. If you’re not already tracking break compliance, now is the time to start.

3. Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) reconciliation

Minnesota’s ESST law has been in effect since 2024, but a clarification for 2026 matters for employers who advance sick-time hours rather than accruing them as worked: you may advance the hours an employee is anticipated to earn, but you must reconcile at the end of the year if their actual earned hours exceed what you advanced.

What to do: if you use the advance method, set a calendar reminder for year-end reconciliation and make sure your payroll records can support it.

4. Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML)

This is the big one. Minnesota’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave program launches January 1, 2026, providing eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of medical leave and 12 weeks of family leave per benefit year (with a combined cap).

Funding is shared: employers must pay at least 50% of the premium. Payroll deductions begin January 1, 2026, with the first quarterly premium payment due April 30, 2026.

What to do:

• Register your business with the state PFML system before year-end.
• Decide how you’ll allocate the employee share (you may pay more than 50% if you choose).
• Update payroll to begin withholding January 1, 2026.
• Update your handbook to describe how PFML interacts with any existing leave policies you have.
• Make sure your supervisors understand that PFML is job protected — employees can’t be retaliated against for using it.

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These changes are not optional, and the agencies enforcing them have been clear they intend to do so. The good news is that none of them are conceptually hard — they just require an updated handbook, a payroll adjustment, and a few new processes.

If you’d like help working through what applies to your business and what to update, please reach out at 612-217-4387 or jennifer@heusinkveldlaw.com. We do this work on a fixed-fee basis for most small employers.