Rice Lake council limits accrual during Minnesota Paid Leave; council approves policy language

Rice Lake councilors approved an update to the city’s personnel policy to reflect the Minnesota Paid Leave Act and clarified internal job-title language. During a lengthy discussion, councilors debated whether employees should continue to accrue sick or vacation time while on Minnesota Paid Leave.

Councilor Henderson moved to amend the personnel-policy supplement so that employees do not accrue sick or vacation time while on Minnesota Paid Leave; Councilor Johnson seconded and the motion passed on a voice vote.

Public commenter Lisa Walls noted the Minnesota Paid Leave law is modeled on FMLA distinctions and urged councilors to consider how accrual rules affect small businesses and employees. "If you have someone who's gone eight weeks, they would normally not accrue at most companies, but now if you take a week's vacation, that's earned time to you that you can use," Walls said as part of her comment about leave and accrual.

The council also approved minor editorial changes to personnel documents, including replacing references to 'city clerk' with 'city administrator' in specified sections and adding statutory references required under state law. Councilors asked staff to confirm consistency with union contracts before final implementation and to return any additional edits to council if needed.

Outcome: Motion to adopt the personnel policy language (including the accrual limitation for Minnesota Paid Leave) passed; staff will confirm union contract consistency and effectuate the updated policy.

Sources: City staff presentation and public comment recorded during the personnel-policy agenda item.