State officials announcing that applications for Minnesota's Paid Family and Medical Leave Program open Wednesday.
That's a day earlier than planned, allowing residents to begin submitting requests for 2026.
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Matt Verelich says people needing medical leave, caregivers and new families will now have access to up to 12 weeks of time off.
He notes that it only will happen if they file all the proper documentation.
"The necessity of it has to be validated," Verelich told Tom Hauser on the WCCO Morning News. "So in the case of welcoming a baby, we need to have evidence that you are who you say you are, and that you have indeed welcomed a child. Or in the case of medical leave, we need to have verification of your identity, but also from a medical provider."
He says the state has also built in multiple identity and documentation checks to prevent fraud and help employers plan ahead.
Verelich said the initial testing process helped ensure the that portal is ready, something the state previously struggled with in programs like MNSure.
"We know that there have been instances in the past of big programs rolling out that didn't go quite according to plan," Verelich explains. "And so we wanted to avoid some of those issues and make sure that we had tested everything."
The program's early launch allows Minnesotans to get a jumpstart on applying for this new benefit program. It comes after more than two and a half years of program design, construction and testing to ensure an effective, functional launch.
There are some in the state that are feeling some trepidation about the new law. Justin Terch with the Minnesota Society of Human Resources Professionals says for some businesses, challenges lie ahead.
"You know, (it) has the potential to create a critical staffing problem, and services that the public desperately needs and expects," says Terch. "And so there's just a lot of concern about how it'll work and how it'll be implemented. And unfortunately, at this point, it is what it is, so we're just going to have to grit our teeth and figure out how to get through it."
He says many small businesses and organizations aren't aware that the new law even applies to them.
"But I think most of the companies that we're seeing, you know, we have about a third of them we'll say, that are totally on top of it," says Terch. A third that are where it's going on, but not the specifics. And we still have a third, especially smaller organizations, that are really surprised that it even applies to them with only two or three employees."
Minnesota workers may apply for Paid Leave on December 31. Visit paidleave.mn.gov to apply and to learn more about eligibility and benefits.