On Tuesday, May 6, Senator Gary Dahms (R – Redwood Falls) joined a bipartisan group of legislators in passing modifications to the state’s Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) law. Senate File 2300 responds to some of the growing concerns from small business owners and farmers about the ESST law passed by the Democrat legislative majority in 2023.

The original ESST mandate required every business in Minnesota (even those with just one employee) to provide paid sick time or face penalties up to $10,000 per violation. While the law aims at helping Minnesota workers, it has created serious problems for the smallest businesses and family farms.

“The ESST law is one of the issues I regularly hear about from my constituents,” Senator Dahms said. “Small employers want to do right by their employees, but they also need laws that make sense for how they actually operate. Even some Democrats are realizing this one-size-fits-all mandate needs changes and flexibility.”

Senate File 2300 exempts small businesses, including farms with five or fewer workers and other businesses with three or fewer employees, from the ESST mandate. It also shortens the time frame for employers to request documentation of an illness or safety emergency, reducing it from three consecutive days to two. The bill also limits the ESST requirements to 160 hours per year. Any paid time off beyond that would be governed by the employer’s internal policies or union agreements rather than the ESST law.

“This is not the end of the conversation. There is still more work to do to make this mandate fair for all Minnesota businesses. But this is a good first step, and I am proud to support common-sense changes that help our small businesses stay open and keep people working,” Senator Dahms concluded.

Six Senate Democrats joined Republicans in passing the bill out of the Senate this week. The bill now heads to the Minnesota House of Representatives for further consideration.

Senator Dahms is in his fifth term representing Senate District 15, which includes communities in Blue Earth, Brown, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Lyon, Redwood, and Yellow Medicine counties. He also serves as the Republican Lead on the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee and as a member of the Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband, and Rural Development Committee, as well as the Finance Committee.