DEED presents paid leave implementation timeline; employers must notify workers by Dec. 1

Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) officials gave the House Workforce committee an implementation update on Minnesota’s paid family and medical leave program, reviewing technical milestones, outreach work and next steps toward the program’s January 1, 2026 launch.

Deputy Commissioner Evan Roehm said the paid leave law enacted in May 2023 and updated in May 2024 will make partial wage replacement and job‑protected leave available to eligible workers beginning Jan. 1, 2026. Greg Norfleet, director of the paid leave program, told members DEED has already launched wage detail reporting and is collecting employer payroll data from more than 160,000 employers to support eligibility determinations and benefit calculations.

Norfleet summarized key operational milestones: wage detail reporting launched in October; the premium collection system will use the existing unemployment insurance (UI) UI Online platform; premiums and payroll deductions begin Jan. 1, 2026; and the first quarterly premium is due April 30, 2026. He said the department expects to separate a family and a medical premium rate and that employers may deduct up to 50% of the premiums from employee paychecks unless they choose to pay more.

Officials walked members through core program design points: up to 90 percent of an individual’s usual wages can be replaced, capped at $1,372 per week under current statewide average‑wage calculations; lower‑wage workers receive a higher replacement percentage; a basic eligibility threshold is earnings of at least 5.3 percent of the statewide average annual wage in the prior year (the department cited a 2024 figure of $3,781 as a rough reference).

DEED staff described a multi‑track rulemaking and outreach program, noting 19 virtual engagement sessions with roughly 950 attendees and more than 600 unique comments during an initial rulemaking cycle and more than 100 comments on a subsequent notice. The vendor building the customer application is Nava PBC; DEED said it is using existing UI systems for premium collection to reduce technical risk and will subject the application to continuous testing and independent audit.

Committee members raised questions about employer notification timing, equivalent private plans, program integrity, cross‑border employees, small‑employer assistance and hiring. Norfleet said employers must notify employees of premium deductions by Dec. 1, 2025, per statute, and that DEED will provide posters and written materials well before that date for employers to distribute. DEED also described a small employer assistance component that allows qualifying employers with under 30 employees (and an average wage below a statutory threshold) to apply for up to $3,000 to hire temporary help or increase wages to cover a substitute while an employee is on leave.

On staffing, DEED said it has hired roughly 60 FTEs and has vendor staff in place, with a target headcount around 400 FTEs over the hiring ramp; many of the remaining hires will be operational roles — contact center agents, claims adjudicators and program integrity staff — trained before Jan. 1, 2026.

Several members pressed DEED about safeguards against duplicate benefits (for example, receiving unemployment insurance and paid leave concurrently). DEED said it is coordinating closely with the Unemployment Insurance Division and will use shared wage reporting and data‑matching to prevent concurrent UI and paid‑leave payments.

The department previewed an early, mobile‑friendly application flow and reiterated plans for community outreach grants (beginning July 2025) and employer materials for the December 2025 notification requirement. Members and DEED agreed to continue outreach to municipalities, school districts and border communities to clarify coverage for localized workforces.

Ending: DEED’s presentation concluded with the committee taking questions; staff said they will return to the committee for further briefings and to respond to additional member requests for details and numbers.