Attention Small Business Owners!
The Minnesota Legislature recently passed a bill providing bonus pay for eligible COVID-19 frontline workers. If you operated a business in the following sectors between March 15, 2020, and June 30, 2021, your employees may qualify for Frontline Worker Pay!
- long-term care and home care;
- health care;
- emergency responders;
- public health, social service, and regulatory service;
- courts and corrections;
- child care;
- schools, including charter schools, state schools, and higher education;
- food service, including production, processing, preparation, sale, and delivery;
- retail, including sales, fulfillment, distribution, and delivery;
- temporary shelters and hotels;
- building services, including maintenance, janitorial, and security;
- public transit;
- ground and air transportation services;
- manufacturing; and
- vocational rehabilitation.
Who is Eligible for frontline worker pay?
Several eligibility requirements apply for the program. The eligibility criteria requires that the applicant be an employee in an employer-employee relationship in a frontline sector for at least 120 hours during the identified time period. Independent contractors and sole proprietors are not employees. For example, if an applicant worked as an employee at a childcare center and meets the other eligibility requirements, they may apply. However, a sole proprietor that owns a family childcare would not be eligible. Click here to learn more about the Minnesota Frontline Worker Pay eligibility requirements.
What Are Employers Required to Do?
Within 15 days after the application period is opened (anticipated June 8, 2022), employers in the identified frontline sectors must provide notice to all current workers who may be eligible for payments of the assistance available to them and how to apply for payments. The Department of Labor and Industry is currently developing a form that can be used by employers to meet this obligation. Click here to learn more about the Minnesota Frontline Worker Pay and to access the Department of Labor and Industry Frontline Worker Pay Employer form when it is made available by the State of Minnesota. You can also sign up for email updates for this program provided by the Department of Labor and Industry.
5 IMPORTANT FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Vicki Hagberg, Business Consultant at the Northland Small Business Development Center, shares five important facts you should know about Minnesota’s new Frontline Work Pay Law!
Need help with the next steps?
Northland SBDC is here to help you and your for-profit small business understand your responsibilities as an employer for the Minnesota Frontline Worker Pay Program. Northland SBDC human resources expert, Rovena Claxton, is available to work one-on-one with small businesses affected by COVID-19. To access one-on-one HR assistance at no-cost to your small business, sign up for services on our website or contact your current SBDC consultant.
You can also watch our recent webinars on Hiring Employees – A Step By Step Guide, Employee Retention Strategies, and Effective Hiring Strategies on Northland SBDC’s YouTube channel.
Post by Northland SBDC HR expert, Rovena Claxton, North Shore Human Resource Consulting, LLC
