Maternity and Paternity Leave Laws in Minnesota

Minnesota employees who need time off for pregnancy, childbirth, or bonding with a new child have several overlapping protections, and 2026 brings a major change: paid leave. Most workers are now covered by the state's new Paid Leave program, which pays a portion of wages for up to 12 weeks a year.

Before this program, Minnesota workers relied only on unpaid protections—the federal FMLA and the Minnesota Parental Leave Act, both of which guarantee up to 12 weeks off for pregnancy and parenting (unpaid), plus federal and state pregnancy-accommodation laws.

Below, you'll find out who qualifies for Minnesota's new paid benefits, how much they pay, and how unpaid leave laws interact with the new program.

Minnesota’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Program

Minnesota's Paid Family and Medical Benefit Insurance program (called Paid Leave), which launched January 1, 2026, is a state insurance program that provides partial wage replacement and job protection to most Minnesota employees who need time off for family or medical reasons. For pregnancy and parenting, eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks for pregnancy-related medical needs and up to 12 weeks of bonding leave after birth, adoption, or foster placement (capped at 20 weeks combined in a benefit year), with job protection applying from day one.

How Long Does Paid Leave Last in Minnesota?

Minnesota’s paid leave program pays up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave or family leave per year. But you can use up to 20 weeks of combined medical and family leave if you have more than one "qualifying event" (such as childbirth and an injury) in the same claim year.

For example, let’s say you take medical leave for the last two weeks of your pregnancy and for six weeks while you recover from childbirth. You’d still have 12 weeks available that year for another reason, like bonding with your new baby or caring for a sick family member.

You can take Paid Leave benefits in eight-hour increments or all at once.

Who Is Eligible for Minnesota's Paid Leave Program?

Almost all employees in Minnesota are now covered by the state’s Paid Leave program, but not all employers participate: Employers can offer their own benefits if the program meets or exceeds state coverage amounts. 

If your employer participates (and most do), you're eligible for benefits after earning at least 5.3% of the state’s average annual wage during your one-year base period (about $3,500). 

How Much Are Minnesota's Paid Family Leave Benefits?

Your benefit amount is calculated using a rather complex formula based on your average weekly earnings and the state’s average weekly wage (SAWW). In most of 2026, Minnesota's SAWW was $1,423, but the amount increased to $1,476 on October 1, 2026.

You’ll receive the following benefits based on your average earnings:

• 90% of the wages you earn that are 50% of the state’s average weekly wage or less, plus
• 66% of the wages you earn that are between 51% and 100% of the SAWW, and
• 55% of your wages over 100% of the SAWW.

From October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027, the maximum weekly benefit is $1,594.08 (108% of the SAWW) and the minimum benefit is $318.82. (Common Minnesota Workers' Compensation Benefit Adjustments, Minn. Dep't of Labor & Indus. 2026.)

Don't worry about making the calculations; Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has an online benefit calculator you can use to estimate your benefits.

Do You Have to Use Vacation Time Before Taking Paid Family Leave?

If you're using the paid leave program, employers can't require you to exhaust your accrued paid time off (PTO), vacation, or sick days. (Minn. Stat. § 268B.27.)

Learn more about Minnesota's paid leave program.

Getting Paid If You're Not Eligible for Minnesota’s Paid Leave Benefits

If you don't qualify for the paid leave program, your job will be protected during unpaid time off for pregnancy and parenting under the FMLA and Minnesota's pregnancy and parenting leave law, as discussed below. But to get paid, you'll have to use accrued paid time off (like sick days, vacation time, or PTO) during your leave. (And your employer can require you to use this paid time off.)

Some employers currently offer special benefits for their employees, such as:

• maternity and paternity leave benefits
• parental benefits, or
• short-term disability insurance.

Talk to your HR representative or manager (and check your employee handbook) to find out what types of leave are available to you.

You also have the option to buy a private short-term disability insurance policy that covers pregnancy.

Getting Job Protection When You Take Maternity Leave in Minnesota

Minnesota's Paid Family and Medical Benefit Insurance program provides job protection, but if you don't qualify, there are two other types of laws that might protect you when you take maternity leave: Laws that require pregnancy leave and laws prohibiting pregnancy discrimination. Several federal and state laws protect your job and allow you to take unpaid time off during pregnancy.

Job Protection With Minnesota's Paid Leave Program

Minnesota's new paid leave law provides job protection when you take bonding leave or pregnancy-related medical leave. Your employer must give you your job back when you return from your maternity leave. And if your position doesn’t exist when you return from leave, the company must offer you an equivalent position.

For other types of leave, you must have worked at least 90 consecutive days for your employer to be entitled to job protection. Employees who haven't worked 90 consecutive days for their employer will have to look to other state and federal laws for job protection.

Protections From the FMLA and MPLA

The federal FMLA gives eligible employees the right to take up to 12 weeks off work in a one-year period for pregnancy and parenting leave (among other things). But the FMLA applies only to employers with at least 50 employees. 

Minnesota Parental Leave Act (MPLA) also gives employees the right to take pregnancy and parenting leave. (Minn. Stat. §§ 181.940 – 181.944.) Like the FMLA, Minnesota's leave law allows employees to take up to 12 weeks off for pregnancy disability and parenting combined. Unlike the FMLA, however, the Minnesota law applies to virtually all employers, regardless of size or how long you’ve worked there. (Employees are immediately eligible for MPLA leave right after being hired.)

If you’re eligible for both federal and state pregnancy and/or parental leave (whether under MPLA or the paid leave program), you have a right to only 12 weeks of leave. Your employer doesn't have to allow you to take leave under a state program and then take FMLA leave. 

You can also take FMLA leave for prenatal care, including routine check-ups and doctor visits. (Learn more about the eligibility requirements for taking FMLA leave for pregnancy and disability.)

Pregnancy Discrimination in Minnesota

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is a federal law that requires covered employers (those with 15 employees or more) to provide reasonable accommodations (including time off work and reduced schedules) to employees who need them due to pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions.

The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) doesn't require employers to give pregnant employees time off. But the PDA does require employers to treat employees who can’t work due to pregnancy the same as employees who are temporarily disabled for other reasons. So, if your company lets employees take time off for other temporary disabilities, like an injured hand or a bad back, then it must allow pregnant employees to take the same time off when they can’t work.

The Minnesota Human Rights Act includes a similar requirement. These laws can help those employees who don't qualify for time off under the FMLA or Minnesota's pregnancy leave law.

Getting Job Protection When You Take Parenting Leave in Minnesota

Minnesota's paid leave program provides job protection for bonding leave after birth, adoption, or foster placement, regardless of how long you've been with your employer. So you're entitled to your old job, or an equivalent position, when you return from leave. The bonding leave must be taken within the year after the child's birth, adoption, or placement.

In addition, the FMLA gives employees the right to take time off to bond with a new child, whether biological, adopted, or foster. Parenting/bonding leave is part of your total 12-week FMLA leave entitlement. So, if you use two weeks of FMLA leave during your pregnancy, you’ll have ten weeks left for parenting leave.

Minnesota's pregnancy and parenting leave (MPLA) law works the same way: You’re entitled to a total of 12 weeks for pregnancy disability and parenting. Minnesota law requires you to complete parental leave within 12 months of your child's arrival. If your child has to stay in the hospital longer than you do, the 12-month countdown starts when your child is discharged from the hospital.

Part-Time or Reduced Schedule Leave Under the FMLA and Minnesota Law

Minnesota's paid leave program allows employees to take their leave intermittently or on a reduced schedule basis.

The FMLA allows employees to take their leave intermittently if it's medically necessary. For example, if you have a prenatal check-up, you don't have to take a whole day off. Instead, you can use a couple of hours of FMLA leave, then go back to work.

The same is true for pregnancy-related ailments that don't last all day. If, for instance, you have morning sickness that lives up to its name, you might need a few hours off in the morning but be able to come to work by lunchtime. Under the FMLA, this is allowed.

For parental leave, however, the rules are different. If you want to use FMLA parental leave a little at a time—for example, by returning to work half-time for a while or by taking some of your leave when the baby is born and some at a later point when your partner returns to work—your employer must agree to it. You must complete all FMLA parental leave within one year after your child’s arrival.

Minnesota's pregnancy and parenting leave law doesn’t address whether or not parents can take their leave intermittently. But the law does state that, with employer agreement, you can return to work part-time during the leave period without forfeiting your right to return to your former position when your leave is over.

FMLA Rules for Parents Who Work for the Same Employer

If you and your spouse work for the same company, your employer can limit your total amount of FMLA leave for parenting to 12 weeks for both of you. (Minnesota's parenting leave law has no such restriction.) But whatever portion of your own 12 weeks of FMLA leave you don't use for parenting will still be available to you for other reasons, including your own serious health condition.

Under the FMLA, the 12-week combined limit applies only to parents who are married to each other.

Minnesota Laws on Reasonable Accommodations During Pregnancy

When employees work while pregnant, Minnesota gives them the right to reasonable accommodations: changes to their position or work rules that will allow them to do their jobs. If you’re pregnant and you ask for it, your employer must provide all of the following accommodations:

• more frequent and longer breaks
• seating during work, even for jobs that are normally done standing, and
• a lifting limit of 20 pounds.

You don’t have to show that your health care provider has prescribed these accommodations to be entitled to them, and your employer can’t refuse your request. (Minn. Stat. § 181.939.)

In addition, your employer must provide other accommodations if your health care provider or doula advises you that you need them, such as:

• a temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position
• a modified work schedule or tasks, or
• a temporary leave of absence.

The only time an employer can refuse to comply with an accommodation request of this type is when providing the accommodation would create an "undue hardship" for the business.

What to Expect

Minnesota’s legal protections for pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting leave give you support both before and after welcoming a child. With Minnesota's new Paid Family and Medical Leave program, you'll have greater financial stability and flexibility when taking time away from work. You can also rely on the federal and state laws discussed above for unpaid leave, job security, and pregnancy accommodations to help balance health, work, and family.