Tolkkinen: Lawmakers need to look again at paid time off laws

The Duluth school district, looking to cut several programs and 50 positions, is far from alone among Minnesota schools in having to make painful spending cuts.

The cuts are ironic given that it’s been only two years since the Minnesota Legislature invested $2.2 billion in Minnesota schools; a big chunk of that went to fund school lunches.

Several schools pointed to two big drivers of their budget woes: the Earned Sick and Safe Time law that took effect in January 2024 and the Family Medical Leave Act that will take effect in January 2026.

“These programs, though well intentioned, are effectively unfunded mandates that increase our workload,” Jeremy Schmidt, superintendent of the Becker School District, told Minnesota House Republicans at a hearing last month. Republicans held a series of meetings on the topic while Democrats stayed away during a power struggle for control of the House.

Schmidt was joined by multiple school administrators and representatives of education groups in testifying to a myriad of unintended consequences of these mandates that land particularly hard on the state’s smallest school districts.

One of the most startling consequences? In some cases, they are having to hire substitute teachers for substitute teachers.

Suppose a teacher has to miss work, so the school hires a substitute for their classroom. Because of the Earned Sick and Safe Time Act, if that substitute teacher calls in sick after accepting the job, they are entitled to sick pay. Then the school has to hire another substitute. So three people are getting paid to cover one classroom.

Also, because of the way the law was written, Becker schools had to choose an option that required paid leave to be made available immediately to new employees.

Last December, Becker hired an employee who human resources director Jenny Lorentz said worked one week, then left on paid bereavement leave followed by paid medical leave. In that time frame, the employee also received two paid holidays and two months of insurance benefits. Ultimately, the school district paid $3,929 for an employee who worked only five days, she said.

“I don’t know if this person did that on purpose but I could see that happening in the future,” Schmidt said. “It is scary to think that somebody could go around to different jobs, it doesn’t even have to be in public schools, and work for a couple of days, receive some benefits, get some front-loaded [Earned Sick and Safe] time, and ask for that as their pay.”

Becker is anticipating cutting six or seven teachers next school year and a handful of other staff such as custodians and paraprofessionals, Schmidt said.

The Democrat-controlled Legislature approved the legislation in 2023. Before it went into effect, many workers lacked any paid leave, even if they cobbled together multiple part-time jobs and were working more than full-time. The law guarantees paid leave they could use if they were sick, needed to care for a sick family member, or needed help in cases of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking.

Anyone who expected to work at least 80 hours for a Minnesota employer and was not an independent contractor would earn one hour of sick and safe time for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours each year.

Employers, naturally, don’t love this new system. It costs them - and their employees - money, and they worry about employee absenteeism hurting their ability to serve their customers.

Private schools say they will have to raise tuition to cover the increased costs.

Jon De Groot, superintendent of Central Minnesota Christian School in Prinsburg, testified that family and medical leave will cost his school $79,000 each year, and because it would allow 20 weeks off a year, could leave them adrift.

”Finding qualified support staff in a rural district like ours is really challenging," he said.

Last year, the legislative session ended in chaos, as the Family Medical Leave Act was passed above the shouts of Republicans who hadn’t been heard.

This year, the hearings have given Republicans, many of whom represent rural Minnesota, the time to hash out how these new mandates for paid leave are actually affecting employers, especially schools. Should substitute teachers and other part-time positions like coaches and kitchen workers be entitled to paid leave? Can the laws be amended to address the concerns of these schools?

Surely there’s got to be a middle ground between no sick leave and such lavish, administrative-heavy paid leave that it forces schools to add administrative staff and cut teachers.

Now that Democrats and Republicans have reached an agreement to work together in the House, committees are expected to get back to work on Monday. It won’t be easy.

As DFL House Leader Melissa Hortman put it, “Certainly everybody’s still pretty angry at each other.”

One can only hope that cooperation, not partisanship, will prevail when they get back to work. Both sides have reasonable concerns, and now they’ll have a chance to work through them.

Karen Tolkkinen is a Star Tribune columnist focused on the people and issues of greater Minnesota. karen.tolkkinen@startribune.com