Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Minnesota program

Pay while caring for your child (Minnesota Paid Leave)

Minnesota pays part of your wages while you take leave to care for a seriously ill child.

What it is

Minnesota pays part of your wages while you take leave to care for a seriously ill child.

Minnesota Paid Leave began in January 2026 and covers employers of every size. It can provide income while you care for your child. Its job protections have their own rules, and the same absence can also use FMLA.

Who can qualify
  • Covered Minnesota employment includes public employers, cities and school districts. There is no minimum employer size.
  • Reinstatement rights begin after 90 calendar days of employment.
  • For foreseeable leave, the employer notice is 30 days. Otherwise notice is required as soon as possible.
  • You need about $3,900 in Minnesota wages over the past year. Self-employed people have to opt in. Being on leave or recently laid off does not erase wages you already earned.
What you get
  • Up to 12 weeks of family leave, replacing part of your wages.
  • Up to 20 weeks in total when family and medical leave are combined.
  • Job-return rights after 90 calendar days of employment.
What the help includes
  • Payments replace a share of wages, with more of a lower wage replaced. The cap is tied to the state average weekly wage.
  • Lower earners get about 90% of their usual weekly pay; higher earners get a smaller share. The most anyone gets is $1,423 a week in 2026, and a leave that has started keeps its rate.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask your social worker to help compare Minnesota Paid Leave, FMLA and employer pay with the benefits office.
  2. Ask the oncology team for the medical certification. Have wage records, the employer contact and leave dates ready.
  3. If you decide to seek benefits, use the Minnesota Paid Leave application and give the employer the required notice.

Minnesota Paid Leave and your employer’s benefits office. · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • An application can be submitted up to 60 days before leave begins.
  • Ordinary backdating is one week and must be requested within seven days of the application taking effect.
  • The employer confirms employment. The oncology team certifies the child’s serious health condition.
Good to know

The illness has to be expected to last at least seven days, which leukemia treatment does. There is no unpaid waiting week, and you can apply up to 60 days before the leave starts.

Other details
  • FMLA can run at the same time. Payroll can explain how employer pay is designated during the absence.
  • Paid Leave and unemployment cannot pay for the same portion of a week. Payroll can explain how employer-paid time is designated. Minnesota pregnancy and parenting leave is not a separate general sick-child leave entitlement.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Minnesota Paid Leave cover time caring for our child? What are the benefits and drawbacks, how would it work with FMLA and employer pay, and could you help with the paperwork?”

Why I’m asking: I need to understand what could replace income and protect my return to work.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Apply, give the employer notice and send in the medical certification.

Your social worker

The employer confirms the employment and can run it alongside federal leave.

The care team

The oncology team signs the certification that the child has a serious health condition.

Who decides
The state paid leave programme.
Ask HR
“I am applying for Minnesota Paid Leave to care for my child. Will you run it alongside federal family leave, and what notice do you need?”

How to apply

First step: Discuss leave, employer pay, insurance and dates with the social worker and benefits office before deciding whether to request benefits.

  1. Apply online as soon as the leave is planned, and up to sixty days early.
  2. Tell the employer thirty days ahead when you can.
  3. Ask the employer whether it will run alongside federal family leave.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply online at paidleave.mn.gov, up to sixty days before the leave starts, and tell the employer.

What to gather

  • Your wage records
  • The employer name and contact
  • The medical certification from the oncology team

How long: Applications can be filed up to sixty days before the leave; backdating is one week, asked for within seven days.

Clock: Ordinary backdating is one week, and it has to be asked for within seven days of the application taking effect.

What a yes looks like

A weekly payment and a confirmed leave period.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Check whether the refusal is about covered employment or about the certification, and appeal by the date on the notice.

Watch out

  • For most leave, the qualifying event must last at least seven calendar days; those days are not an unpaid waiting week.
  • The program confirms payment timing, backdating and the applicable wage calculation.

Dates that change this

2026-10-25: The weekly maximum changes for leaves that start on or after the last Sunday in October, which falls on October 25, 2026. A leave already running keeps its own amount. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Up to 12 weeks of family leave and 20 combined weeks. State-program leaves established January 1–October 24, 2026 have a maximum of $1,423 weekly; the October 25 update applies to newly established leaves.

  • $12 — Weeks of paid family leave in a benefit year
  • $20 — Weeks of family and medical leave combined in a benefit year
  • $60 — Days before the leave that an application can be filed

Covers: Weekly payments while caring for the child · Reinstatement to the job after ninety calendar days of employment

Legal protection: No minimum employer size · It can run at the same time as federal family leave

What it costs the family: None.

The eligibility facts, as published

Employment
covered Minnesota employment, including public employers, cities and school districts
Tenure
reinstatement rights begin after 90 calendar days of employment
Notice
30 days when the leave is foreseeable, otherwise as soon as possible
Earnings
At least $3,900 in covered base-period earnings at the 2026 program start; statutory threshold is 5.3% of state average annual wage rounded down to $100. Location of work and opt-in/exclusion rules also apply.

The trap: You can apply up to sixty days before the leave. Backdating afterwards is normally only one week, so applying late costs money. The first seven days are paid afterwards, so it is not an unpaid waiting week.

Where I read this

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