12-11-2023 Council Meeting Packet

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determine whether they have worked 80 hours in a year and, if so, award the minimum accrual rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked. For cities paying employees at longer intervals than once every 31 days in accordance with the exception for paid-on-call firefighters, first responders, and ambulance drivers and attendants (Minn. Stat. § 181.101), it may be helpful to have these personnel track their hours worked, solely for ESST purposes, and then the city could provide a monthly statement of ESST hours earned, used, and remaining to comport with the new law. Minnesota DOLI FAQs on ESST reflect that “Employers may calculate and record earned sick and safe time hours at the same frequency as the employerʼs other typical payroll practices (i.e., by pay period, whether thatʼs weekly, biweekly, monthly, or twice monthly).” The statute defines a year as a regular and consecutive 12-month period as determined by an employer and clearly communicated to each employee. Since the ESST law is in effect as of Jan. 1, 2024, your city will, at a minimum, begin counting from that date onward. All employees, including full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal, are eligible for ESST if they work at least 80 hours in a year, and they begin to accrue ESST at the start of employment (Minn. Stat. § 181.9446 (d)). (Refer to Minnesota DOLI FAQs on ESST.) Thus, ESST is accrued aer an employee has worked 80 hours, unless an employer wishes to be more generous than state law. Once an employee has worked 80 hours in a year, then ESST accruals begin — at a minimum rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked — going back to the first hour worked for the employer. The law provides for three methods an employer can choose to award ESST (Minn. Stat. § 181.9446 (b)(1-2)): Accrue as earned, with no payout required: One hour of ESST earned and added to the employeeʼs leave bank for every 30 hours worked; and When do ESST accruals begin?– What are the methods for awarding ESST?–