Regulating Uber and Lyft wasn't the only thing Minnesota Democrats did this session: SF3035, one of the most comprehensive labor bills we've seen in awhile, is also going to make quite a few waves in the state when Governor Tim Walz signs it sometime in the near future. Virtually every worker in Minnesota will be affected by at least one change in the bill, which is effectively a labor union wish list and likely the biggest legislative win for unions in recent memory.
The headline changes include:
- Virtually all of Minnesota's employees now being eligible for "paid sick or safe" days. Under the bill, workers will accrue one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours of work. There's a cap of 48 hours a year to this, but it can be used for a wide array of reasons from sickness to seeking counseling or escaping a domestic abuse situation;
- Non-compete and non-poach agreements being rendered legally unenforceable in the state. Non-compete agreements alone currently affect perhaps 350,000 workers in the state, and non-poach agreements almost certainly impact more. The FTC may federally ban these in the months and years to come, but for the time being Minnesota is ahead of the curve here;
- Captive audience meetings are now banned in the state, meaning employers can no longer force their employees to listen to anti-union propaganda;
- Amazon (and technically all companies with more than 250 employees that operate warehouse distribution centers—but particularly Amazon) is now legally required by the state to provide workers with their work quotas and, by request, to provide a worker's productivity data. When a worker is disciplined for failing to meet a quota, that productivity data must also be given to them. The bill also makes it unlawful to force workers to meet a quota that interferes with functions such as restroom breaks or meals, or for employers to discipline workers for not meeting such a quota. The state is now directed to investigate any workplace in which injury rates are "at least 30 percent higher than that year's average incidence rate" in comparable workplaces;
- In the nursing industry, near-section-wide bargaining is being introduced through the creation of the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board. This board will be empowered to set minimum pay and benefits for nursing home workers; should a nursing home be unable to comply with the board's pay and benefit proposals, that nursing home's increases will be frozen until the Legislature provides it with more funding.1
Other smaller but noteworthy provisions include the ability of teacher's unions to negotiate class sizes; general construction contractors being made liable for wage theft and being required to make up the pay difference if their subcontractors skimp out on paying workers; the mandating of injury prevention plans at meatpacking factories and the creation of a state meatpacking industry worker rights coordinator; and the establishment of mandatory ergonomics programs for industries in which repetitive strain may be an issue such as meatpacking, healthcare, and distribution centers.
Quite a lot!
-
Basically all nursing home funding is either state- or federally-granted, if you're wondering why this provision is this way.