This post is the second part in a series on Minnesota Paid Leave. Feel free to check out Part 1. The previous post talked about who qualifies for Minnesota Paid Leave. This post focuses on the types of leave available to those who qualify. The leave types essentially break down into two separate buckets: Medical Leave and Family Leave. 

Medical Leave generally applies in situations where an employee is seeking leave for their own medical condition that leaves them unable to perform daily activities. The law situates that leave into two different types: (i) serious health conditions and (ii) medical care related to pregnancy. “Serious health conditions” carry a pretty lengthy definition in the law, but the general idea is that it is a physical or mental illness, injury, condition, or substance use disorder that requires either an inpatient admission or ongoing treatment. “Medical care related to pregnancy” includes any medical complications and recovery from birth, stillbirth, or miscarriage, as well as prenatal care. 

By comparison, Family Leave carries several more types, but with the common thread that the various types involve other people, including family members. The law defines “family member” pretty broadly, and includes most of the relationships generally understood to be family (parents, children, siblings, grandparents, etc.) as well as a catch-all category where the nature of the relationship suggests family, even if it doesn’t neatly fit into the other categories. The types break down in the following ways: 

  1. Bonding. Whether the employee becomes a parent by birth, adoption, or foster placement, this leave is designed to provide time for the employee to bond with their new child. 
  1. Family Care. In order to care for a qualifying family member with a serious medical condition, an employee can request this leave. 
  1. Qualifying Exigency. For employees with qualifying family members in the military, this leave is available for the employee to support their family member as they prepare for deployment, return from deployment, attend military events, and generally handle family, financial, and legal matters related to the family member’s military service. 
  1. Safety Leave. Employees or their family members who are dealing with domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking can request this leave to seek medical, counseling, or legal help. 

With the categories of leave laid out, you might also be wondering how long the leave lasts. Employees are allowed to take up to 12 weeks of Medical Leave and 12 weeks of Family Leave in a 12-month period. If the employee takes both Medical Leave and Family Leave in the same 12-month period, then the maximum total amount of leave between the two categories is 20 weeks. For example, if the employee has already taken 12 weeks of Family Leave to bond with their new child, they can only use up to 8 weeks of Medical Leave. For both Medical Leave and Family Leave, the leave for each qualifying event can be taken continuously (up to 12 weeks at one time), or it can be spread out in intermittent leave. Returning to the bonding time example, an employee can take 12 weeks all at once after the birth of the child, or they can take in bursts of days or weeks, so long as the total amount of leave days taken doesn’t exceed 12 weeks, and it is taken within 12 months of the birth or adoption of the child. 

Thanks again for reading! Be on the lookout for future Minnesota Paid Leave blog posts!