Minnesota minimum wage rises to $11.13 per hour — and other labor news

Take a seat in the Break Room, our weekly roundup of labor news in Minnesota and beyond. This week: New labor laws take effect; Biden blocks Nippon bid for U.S. Steel; Sanford to pay back wages for violating pregnant worker’s rights; Maple Grove Hospital nurses move to unionize; and a new tool for researching NLRB questions. 

New labor laws take effect

Higher minimum wages: The Minnesota statewide minimum wage rose to $11.13 per hour on Jan. 1, which applies to virtually all workers because of a state law passed in 2024 eliminating a lower minimum wage for workers at small businesses, workers under 18 years old and workers on J-1 visas.

The new hourly minimum wage is a 2.6% increase from $10.85 for workers at large businesses and a nearly 26% increase from $8.85 for workers at small businesses. There is still a lower hourly minimum wage for workers under 20 and in training: $9.08. Minnesota is among 34 states and territories with hourly minimum wages higher than the federal rate of $7.25, which hasn’t been changed since 2009.

In the Twin Cities, minimum wages were also adjusted upward about 2.6% with inflation. In Minneapolis, workers at all businesses are entitled to at least $15.97 per hour. In St. Paul, large businesses must pay at least $15.57 per hour, small businesses at least $14 per hour and “micro” businesses — with five employees or fewer — at least $12.25 per hour.

Employers must post salary ranges: Companies with 30 or more employees in Minnesota must disclose a salary range for each job opening along with a general description of benefits and other compensation. Salary ranges may not be “open ended.” The point is to arm job seekers with more information so they can negotiate higher pay. Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found disclosing pay ranges is on the rise even though few states require it.

Nursing home worker holiday pay: Nursing homes must pay workers time-and-a-half on the 11 state holidays including New Year’s Day, Juneteenth and Labor Day as part of new rules adopted by Minnesota’s new Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board. The board, which is made up equally of workers, nursing home leaders and lawmakers, also voted to raise the minimum wage for nursing home workers to $23.49 per hour on average by 2027. The first bump is scheduled to take effect next year (contingent on state funding). Two industry groups have sued in federal court to block the holiday pay rules from taking effect with a hearing scheduled later this month.

New insurance requirements for ride-hail companies: Uber, Lyft and other transportation network companies must carry insurance that covers drivers’ injuries up to $1 million including for the time immediately after a trip ends, as of Jan. 1. The companies already carried insurance for passengers. Minimum pay rates and greater protections against wrongful terminations — or “deactivations” — went into effect on Dec. 1 as part of state legislation passed last year.

Expanded insurance coverage: Health insurance plans in Minnesota must meet a number of new requirements including covering abortions, gender-affirming care and wigs for cancer patients and people who lost their hair due to a health condition.

Protections from surgical smoke: Health care companies must use smoke evacuation systems to protect workers from exposure to surgical smoke.

Biden rejects Nippon bid to purchase U.S. Steel

President Biden rejected Japanese steel company Nippon’s proposed $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel through executive order on Friday, fulfilling a campaign pledge made by both Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump.

In his order, Biden said he has “credible evidence” that the purchase would impair national security, although the Associated Press reported some agencies were skeptical of that argument.

The decision is a victory for the United Steelworkers, the union representing some 3,500 workers in Minnesota and which opposed the deal. The union favors instead a purchase by Cleveland Cliffs, whose purchase offer was previously rejected by U.S. Steel.

A purchase by Cleveland-Cliffs could raise its own market concerns because it would give the company near complete control of the domestic iron ore supply, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Sanford fined for denying worker parental leave

Sanford Health agreed to pay nearly $14,000 in back wages and damages to one of its former employees after the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry found the health system illegally cut the worker’s hours while she was pregnant and fired her while on unpaid parental leave.

According to the settlement, which the agency announced on Thursday, the worker was forced to reduce her schedule from 40 hours per week to 32 while pregnant, costing her about 152 hours. She was approved for six weeks of leave beginning in December 2023, but when she began experiencing contractions earlier than expected, Sanford required her to submit a doctor’s note to start her leave five days early.

While on leave, the employee requested more parental time but was denied “due to a lack of documentation,” even though Minnesota law entitles workers to 12 weeks of unpaid pregnancy and parental leave. Sanford fired the employee when she didn’t return to work but later offered to reinstate her after she filed a complaint with the state, according to DLI. (The worker took a job with a different company instead.)

In addition to back wages and damages, Sanford agreed to pay $40,000 in civil penalties with another $160,000 in penalties stayed on the condition of the health system’s compliance with the settlement agreement.

Sanford must require its human resources staff and managers to attend training on the Women’s Economic Security Act and send employees a letter informing them of their rights. Sanford also agreed to provide information to patients who are pregnant or new moms about their workplace rights.

The Women’s Economic Security Act, enacted in 2014, requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers, including longer restroom breaks; a reasonable amount of time for a nursing mother to pump milk at work; and up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave. (Minnesota’s new paid parental leave program takes effect in 2026.) The law also says employers cannot prohibit workers from talking about their compensation.

Maple Grove Hospital nurses move to unionize

Nearly 600 nurses at North Memorial’s Maple Grove Hospital may vote on unionizing with the Minnesota Nurses Association after a “supermajority” supported an election petition filed with the National Labor Relations Board, the union announced on Dec. 27.

The Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents some 22,000 nurses, has led several successful organizing campaigns in the past year, unionizing hundreds of nurses in the Duluth area.

“Nurses are the front line of care. We deserve more. We deserve a voice. It is time we have a seat at the table to advocate for ourselves and our patients,” Lisa Groebner, a Maple Grove nurse, said in a statement.

NLRB Research resource 

Matt Bruenig, who closely covers the National Labor Relations Board on his Substack NLRB Edge, made public his database for researching federal labor law legal questions. The database includes all legal documents released by the NLRB, which oversees private sector unions, and can handle complex queries. The database will be most helpful to lawyers, but union organizers, workers and journalists will find it valuable, too.