Employer Deadline to Provide Frontline Worker Notice is June 23, 2022

Earlier this year the Minnesota Legislature appropriated $500 million dollars to be split equally among all qualified front line workers who timely apply through the Frontline Worker Pay Program. The application period is now open and runs through July 22, 2022.

Each employer in the frontline sector must provide a notice by June 23, 2022 advising all current workers who may be eligible for Frontline Work Pay of this program. The Department of Labor and Industry approved notice form is available through this link: Employer notice | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (mn.gov).

Employers can meet their notice requirements by either posting the notice at the worksite where it can be readily observed and reviewed by all workers or by providing it to the workers in paper or an electronic copy.

In order to qualify for the frontline sector payments an employee must have worked in one of the following job sectors:

1. building services, including maintenance, janitorial and security;
2. child care;
3. courts and corrections;
4. emergency responders;
5. food service, including production, processing, preparation, sale and delivery;
6. ground and air transportation services;
7. health care;
8. long-term care and home care;
9. manufacturing;
10. public health, social service and regulatory service;
11. public transit;
12. retail, including sales, fulfillment, distribution and delivery;
13. schools, including charter schools, state schools and higher education;
14. temporary shelters and hotels; and
15. vocational rehabilitation.

Additionally, the employee must meet the following work requirements:

• must have been employed at least 120 hours in Minnesota in one or more frontline sectors between March 15, 2020, and June 30, 2021;

• for the hours worked during this time period the applicant – was not able to telework due to the nature of the individual’s work and - worked in close proximity to people outside of the individual’s household;

• must meet the income requirements for at least one of the 2020 or 2021 tax years – workers with direct COVID-19 patient care responsibilities must have had an adjusted gross income* less than $350,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly, or less than $175,000 for other filers and for workers in occupations without direct COVID-19 patient care responsibilities, the adjusted gross income* limit is $185,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly, or $85,000 for other filers; and

• must not have received an unemployment insurance benefit payment for more than 20 weeks on a cumulative basis for weeks between March 15, 2020, and June 26, 2021.

For employers uncertain as to whether they have employees who may qualify for frontline pay, the safest approach is to provide the notice and encourage employees to refer to the resources available from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry available here: Frontline Worker Pay outreach toolkit | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (mn.gov).

If you have questions regarding frontline pay notice requirements or any other employment-related concerns, please contact Martin Kappenman at mkappenman@pklaborlaw.com.