Minnesota paid leave program's rollout was $70 million under budget, director says

Minnesota is in its second full month of a sweeping new paid leave policy that impacts almost all residents.

Program director Greg Norfleet gave an update Monday on how things are going. 

"The first thing I can report, and you don't get this too often, is the rollout of paid leave came in $70 million under budget," Norfleet said. "And the extra money is going back into the pool of money used to pay claims."

The program is paid for through a payroll tax, with the expense shared with employers.

Almost 48,000 people have applied since the program started in November — and 20,000 of those saw their applications denied.

The payout does not fully replace your salary. The average weekly payment has been $1,121.

"Out of the gate the majority of the applications have been for bonding, but since January we have seen an uptick in the number of applications for medical leave combined these two areas, combined these two types of need account for 90% of our applications," he said.

And to clarify, "bonding" in this sense means the precious time spent between newborns and parents.

To no one's surprise, women make up 62% of those taking leave, while men account for $31%.