SF 2952

Introduction - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026)

Posted on 03/25/2025 10:24 a.m.

A bill for an act
relating to labor; exempting full-time graduate students from the definition of
public employee; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 179A.03, subdivision
14.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 179A.03, subdivision 14, is amended to read:

Subd. 14.

Public employee or employee.

(a) "Public employee" or "employee" means
any person appointed or employed by a public employer except:

(1) elected public officials;

(2) election officers;

(3) commissioned or enlisted personnel of the Minnesota National Guard;

(4) emergency employees who are employed for emergency work caused by natural
disaster;

(5) part-time employees whose service does not exceed the lesser of 14 hours per week
or 35 percent of the normal work week in the employee's appropriate unit;

(6) employees, other than those working in a school as a paraprofessional or other
noninstructional position, whose positions are temporary or seasonal in character and are
not for more than 67 working days in any calendar year.

(7) full-time students under the age of 22, enrolled in a nonprofit or public educational
institution prior to being hired by the employer, excluding employment by the Board of
Regents of the University of Minnesota, whose positions are temporary or seasonal in
character and are not for more than 100 working days in any calendar year, and who have
indicated, either in an application for employment or by being enrolled at an educational
institution for the next academic year or term, an intention to continue as students during
or after their temporary employment;

(8) employees providing services for not more than two consecutive quarters to the
Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities under the terms of a
professional or technical services contract as defined in section 16C.08, subdivision 1;

(9) employees of charitable hospitals as defined by section 179.35, subdivision 3, except
that employees of charitable hospitals as defined by section 179.35, subdivision 3, are public
employees for purposes of sections 179A.051, 179A.052, and 179A.13;

(10) full-time undergraduate new text begin or graduate new text end students employed by the school, excluding
employment by the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota, which they attend
under a work-study program or in connection with the receipt of financial aid, irrespective
of number of hours of service per week;

(11) an individual who is employed for less than 300 hours in a fiscal year as an instructor
in an adult vocational education program;

(12) with respect to court employees:

(i) personal secretaries to judges;

(ii) law clerks;

(iii) managerial employees;

(iv) confidential employees; and

(v) supervisory employees; or

(13) with respect to employees of Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc., managerial,
supervisory, and confidential employees.

(b) The following individuals are public employees regardless of the exclusions of
paragraph (a), clauses (5) to (8) and (10):

(1) an employee hired by a school district or the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota
State Colleges and Universities except at the university established in the Twin Cities
metropolitan area under section 136F.10 or for community services or community education
instruction offered on a noncredit basis: (i) to replace an absent teacher or faculty member
who is a public employee, where the replacement employee is employed more than 30
working days as a replacement for that teacher or faculty member; or (ii) to take a teaching
position created due to increased enrollment, curriculum expansion, courses which are a
part of the curriculum whether offered annually or not, or other appropriate reasons;

(2) an employee hired for a position under paragraph (a), clause (6), if that same position
has already been filled under paragraph (a), clause (6), in the same calendar year and the
cumulative number of days worked in that same position by all employees exceeds 67
calendar days in that year. For the purpose of this paragraph, "same position" includes a
substantially equivalent position if it is not the same position solely due to a change in the
classification or title of the position;

(3) an early childhood family education teacher employed by a school district;

(4) an individual hired by the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities or the University of Minnesota as the instructor of record to teach (i) one class
for more than three credits in a fiscal year, or (ii) two or more credit-bearing classes in a
fiscal year; and

(5) an individual who: (i) is paid by the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota
for work performed at the direction of the university or any of its employees or contractors;
and (ii) is enrolled in three or more university credit-bearing classes or one semester as a
full-time student or postdoctoral fellow during the fiscal year in which the work is performed.
For purposes of this section, work paid by the university includes but is not limited to work
that is required as a condition of receiving a stipend or tuition benefit, whether or not the
individual also receives educational benefit from performing that work. Individuals who
perform supervisory functions in regard to any individuals who are employees under this
clause are not considered supervisory employees for the purpose of section 179A.06,
subdivision 2.