Small business employer with a private paid leave plan permission to receive assistance grants

A bill for an act

relating to employment; allowing a small business employer with a private paid

leave plan to receive assistance grants; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section

268B.29.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 268B.29, is amended to read:

268B.29 SMALL EMPLOYER ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

(a) Employers with 30 or fewer employees as calculated under section
268B.14,

subdivision 5b
, and an average wage for that employer under section
268B.14, subdivision

5c
, less than or equal to 150 percent of the state's average wage in covered employment for

the prior year may apply to the department for grants under this section.

(b) The commissioner may approve a grant of up to $3,000 if the employer hires a

temporary worker, or increases another existing worker's wages, to substitute for an employee

on family or medical leave for a period of seven days or more.

(c) The maximum total grant per eligible employer in a calendar year is $6,000.

(d) Grants must be used to hire temporary workers or to increase wages for current

employees. To be eligible for consideration for a grant under this section, the employer

must documentation attest, in a manner and format prescribed by the commissioner, that:

(1) the temporary worker hired or wage-related costs incurred are due to an employee's

use of leave under this chapter;

(2) the amount of the grant requested is less than or equal to the additional costs incurred

by the employer; and

(3) the employer meets the revenue requirements in paragraph (a).

(e) Applications shall be submitted and processed in a form and manner determined by

the commissioner within each calendar year until funding is exhausted. Applications received

after funding has been exhausted in a calendar year are not eligible for reimbursement.

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(f) An employer who has an approved private plan is not eligible to receive a grant under

this section.

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(g)
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(f)
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Unless additional funds are appropriated, the commissioner may award grants

under this section up to a maximum of $5,000,000 per calendar year from the family and

medical benefit insurance account.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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This section is effective the day following final enactment.

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