The day is approaching. As of January 1, 2026, Minnesota will become the first Midwest state to introduce a mandatory paid family and medical leave program.
Similar to programs that have rolled out up and down the Eastern seaboard and in the northwestern states of Colorado and Oregon, Minnesota employers must help fund benefits that allow employees paid time off to:
- Care for or bond with a new baby, or adopted or foster child within the first year
- Care for an ill or injured family member
- Manage the home when a family member in the military is deployed overseas
- Care for and recover from an employee’s own medical condition, incurred off the job
Minnesota Paid Leave is administered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development within the state. But employers have the option to choose a private plan if that plan exceeds the benefit amounts and leave duration than the state plan, with equal or lower premium costs.
What We Know About Minnesota PFML
Details are scarce at this point regarding benefit amounts and premium costs. Check back to our MN Paid Family Leave Resource Page here, where our team will share details as they become available.
But there’s a few things the benefits experts here at The DBL Center know – and have known since 2017 when we assisted thousands of brokers in New York roll out the most robust Paid Family Leave program the U.S. had known to that point.
Privatizing required benefits typically offers business owners and claimants:
- Better service
- More flexible benefits
- Lower premium rates (depending on the state)
For brokers, the opportunity to privatize statutory benefits for clients:
- Builds trust
- Provides additional revenue streams
- Opens doors to taking the cost savings by privatizing and rolling that money into ancillary benefits for increased commissions
Privatizing PFML In Minnesota: A Win for Business Owners and Brokers
Imagine being a business owner in a state like Minnesota, that just rolled out paid family and medical leave. You’re required to provide a census to the state, make a decision on privatizing benefits or choosing the state plan, and modifying your payroll to begin deducting premiums.
You also have to display the appropriate signage and provide educational materials to your employees. It’s all new, and you need a familiar, trusted professional to help you make the right choices.
From a broker’s standpoint, Paid Family Leave in Minnesota can be equally scary. The state has no history of mandatory benefits. There’s a lot of leg work that goes into explaining the benefits of privatization to clients.
How The DBL Center Can Help
The DBL Center makes it easy to privatize Minnesota PFML. We have done this before and now help brokers in nearly a dozen states privatize paid family leave and roll the savings into ancillary benefits.
Plus, when you rely on us as your back-office staff and wholesale general agency, you gain access to our Broker Dashboard: Net Revenue tracker to track commissions, sales, and cancellations.
We can also assist with RFPs and identifying risk gaps for your clients to increase your revenue.
Mandatory benefits are a foot in the door to vision, dental, life insurance, and accident insurance — everything your clients don’t realize they need to recruit and retain the best employees.
Trust The DBL Center to help you write statutory PFL and roll savings into ancillary benefits. We have relationships with the top carriers and are here to help you.
