• Employers must continue to make group health coverage available during the leave; they need not pay the premium. • On return, employees are entitled to their prior position or a comparable one (same or comparable duties, hours, and pay), subject to limited layoff and collective bargaining exceptions. • Retaliation is prohibited, and employees may sue for damages, attorney’s fees, and equitable relief for violations. Sick leave benefits; care of relatives (Minn. Stat. § 181.940 et seq.) While Minnesota does not require traditional sick leave beyond ESST, employers that do provide personal sick leave benefits must allow eligible employees to use that leave to care for certain family members on the same terms as for their own illness. Covered employers (generally those with 21 or more employees at one site; some provisions apply at 20+) must allow qualified employees to use sick leave to care for: • Children (biological, adopted, foster, step), spouse, sibling, parent, stepparent, grandparent, mother or father in law, and grandchildren (including step and foster grandchildren). Employers may limit use for adult relatives (e.g., spouse, adult child, parent, grandparent) to no less than 160 hours per 12 month period but cannot limit use for minor children. Employers covered by FMLA must coordinate FMLA, ESST, and state care of relatives rights when they overlap. Other Minnesota leave protections (summary) • School conference and activities leave: Up to 16 hours of unpaid leave in any 12 month period for eligible parents to attend school, day care, or kindergarten conferences or activities that cannot be scheduled outside work hours. Employers may require reasonable notice and scheduling to avoid undue disruption. • Bone marrow donation leave: Employers with 20+ employees must provide up to 40 hours of paid leave for employees donating bone marrow, with a doctor’s verification and anti retaliation protection. • Military leave and related protections : Minnesota law and USERRA guarantee unpaid leave and reemployment rights for servicemembers in the National Guard, Reserves, and other uniformed services, plus additional state law leave for attending deployment ceremonies, homecomings, family training, and to respond to injury or death of a close relative in service. Employers must not retaliate. Detailed USERRA guidance is available from the U.S. Department of Labor, Veterans’ Employment & Training Services. • Jury service : Employers may not discharge or coerce employees because of jury service. Civil and criminal remedies apply for violations; pay during jury duty is generally not required under state law unless provided by policy or contract. • Election judge and voting leave : Employees must receive paid time off to serve as an election judge (with notice and offset for judge pay) and unpaid, penalty free time off to vote in specified elections.
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