New Laws Taking Effect on January 1, 2025

Submitted by Martin Kappenman. Martin is a Shareholder at Peters & Kappenman, P.A., a firm representing employers in a full range of employment law issues and litigation in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

There are a number of laws going into effect on January 1, 2025, that will have wide-reaching ramifications for Minnesota employers. The following is a summary of some of the new laws that Minnesota employers should keep in mind as the new year approaches.

• Minnesota employers that employ 30 or more employees at one or more sites in Minnesota will be required to "disclose in each posting for each job opening with the employer the starting salary range” along with "a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation, including but not limited to any health or retirement benefits, to be offered to a hired job applicant.” Job postings are defined to include recruitment solicitations done "indirectly through a third party,” and include any electronic or hard copy documents that include qualifications for desired applicants.
  
• The pay requirements for exemptions from overtime pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rise significantly. The so-called "white collar” exemptions apply to executive, administrative, or professional employees who meet a certain salary threshold and perform certain duties. In addition, the "highly compensated employee” exemption applies to certain employees who are "highly compensated”. On January 1, 2025, the salary threshold for the "white collar” exemptions is set to increase to $1,128 per week (roughly $58,656 per year). Employees still must meet the "primary duties” test to be classified as a "white collar” employee.
  
• Minnesota’s minimum wage rate will be adjusted for inflated to $11.13 per hour for all employers in the state regardless of size, eliminating the previous lower rate allowed for small employers.  Various municipalities have their own even higher minimum wage requirements that will also take effect on January, 1.    
  
• A change to the Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) is set to become effective on January 1, 2025. During the recent legislative session, the legislature added the following language to the ESST statutes: "All paid time off and other paid leave made available to an employee by an employer in excess of the minimum amount required… for absences from work due to personal illness or injury, but not including short-term or long-term disability or other salary continuation benefits, must meet or exceed the minimum standards and requirements [of ESST]…”  I read this to mean that if you are meeting your ESST requirements through a PTO program that is more generous than required by the ESST law, all hours available for PTO must be available for ESST usage.

If you have questions regarding the above or any other employment-related concerns, please contact Martin Kappenman at 952.921.4603 or mkappenman@pklaborlaw.com or any other attorney at Peters & Kappenman, P.A.