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Rushford Village council names clerk administrator, sets local rules to implement Minnesota Paid Leave
Summary
Rushford Village council voted to assign Clerk Mary Miner as the Paid Leave Administrator and approved implementation choices under the Minnesota Paid Leave Law, including a 25% city/75% employee premium split for the first year, a 4-hour minimum intermittent leave block, and allowing up to 20 weeks total leave when locally approved.
Acting Mayor Mike Ebner presided as the Rushford Village City Council on Nov. 18 adopted a set of local decisions to implement the Minnesota Paid Leave Law (MPLL).
The council formally appointed Clerk Mary Miner as the city's Paid Leave Administrator and directed staff to prepare a policy and employee notice, which legal counsel Joseph O'Koren said should be issued by Dec. 1 to meet statutory notice requirements. The motion to appoint Miner was seconded by Rick Ruberg and carried.
Council members considered several options drawn from a spreadsheet prepared by Miner and consultant Paul Ness. The council voted not to create an additional municipal supplemental benefit fund beyond what MPLL requires and declined to designate employees' accrued PTO/ESST as an automatic “top off” to state-paid leave; however, the council approved allowing employees, at their option, to use PTO/ESST to receive a full paycheck while on leave.
For premium sharing, the council accepted Ness’s recommendation for the first year that the city pay 25% of the premium (the small-employer share of 0.22 percentage points) and employees pay 75% (0.44 percentage points). Council members noted the premium could change in later years and that additional city contributions beyond the 25% would be treated as wages for tax reporting purposes.
On leave structure, the council set a 4-hour minimum block for intermittent leave to simplify tracking and to allow partial-day returns. The council also voted to permit an additional local 8 weeks of family paid leave beyond the statutory 12-week medical paid leave—bringing a locally permitted maximum to 20 weeks—if the city approves such leave in each case. Finally, the council voted that MPLL leave will run concurrently with Minnesota’s Pregnancy and Parenting Leave statute and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act where applicable.
The council’s motions on these items were unanimous as recorded in the minutes; specific vote tallies were not entered in the minutes. City Attorney O’Koren and Clerk Miner were directed to draft formal policy language and an employee notice for the council’s review.
What this means: The council’s choices establish administrative responsibility, initial premium-sharing expectations, and operational rules (minimum intermittent block, optional PTO use, and concurrency with other leave laws) to guide local implementation and payroll procedures in the coming year.
Next steps: Staff will prepare written policy and employee notice; the council will revisit elements such as premium split if future information merits a change.
