75,000 Minnesotans participating in paid leave program 6 months into launch, DEED says

More than 75,000 Minnesotans have been approved for the state's paid family and medical leave program, which launched at the beginning of the year.

The program is "operating smoothly and delivering on its promise," according to Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Matt Varilek. "Strong participation and performance metrics show Minnesotans are using Paid Leave when they need it most."

Employees who are taking leave are broadly representative of the state's workforce, the department said. 

Roughly 54% of the applicants make less than $78,000 a year and 58% are under the age of 40. The department said 44% live outside of the seven-county Twin Cities metro and 64% are women.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2023, 27% of the country's workforce had access to paid family leave. Low-income workers and BIPOC parents, along with people who live in rural areas often missed out on coverage, according to DEED.

"We had predictions that we would be behind schedule in launching, we had predictions we would be over budget in launching. We had predictions that the technology would not work properly and I'm happy to note we came in under budget with implementation, we launched early and the technology has operated smoothly," said Varilek.

The paid leave program rolled out at $70 million under budget, state officials say. The extra money will go back into the pool of money used to pay claims.

The program was signed into law in 2023 and allows employees 12 weeks of partial pay for medical reasons, such as taking care of a newborn, caring for a family member or one's own health and safety. 

The average weekly payment is $1,083, down from $1,153 reported in January. Payments are a percentage of an employee's earnings, up to a weekly maximum.

Paid leave is supported through a payroll tax, with the expense shared with employers.