The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that the City of Minneapolis (“City”) may continue to enforce its Sick and Safe Time Ordinance (“Ordinance”) against employers that reside within city limits while a lawsuit challenging the Ordinance advances.
A temporary court order barring the City from enforcing the Ordinance against employers that do business in, but do not have physical operations within, the city limits remains in effect while the lawsuit proceeds.
The court of appeals decision, available here, was issued September 19, 2017. It does not decide the merits of the lawsuit filed by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and other organizations challenging the Ordinance. Rather, the court of appeals reviewed and affirmed the Hennepin County District Court’s January 2017 decision to grant a temporary injunction against the City with regard to the Ordinance’s impact on non-resident employers while denying an injunction with regard to its effect on resident employers.
The City adopted the Ordinance in May 2016, and it took effect July 1, 2017. The Ordinance requires employers to provide each employee with one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked and allows employers to cap the accrual at 48 hours per year and to set a maximum limit of 80 accrued hours. Employers with six or more employees – full time, part time, and/or temporary – must provide paid leave.