Subdivision 1.Payments.

(a) Family and medical leave premiums accrue and become payable by each employer, except for an employer with an approved private plan under section 268B.10, for each calendar year on the taxable wages that the employer paid to employees in covered employment.

Each employer must pay premiums quarterly, at the premium rate defined under this section, on the taxable wages paid to each employee. The commissioner must compute the premium due from the wage detail report required under section 268B.12 and notify the employer of the premium due. The premiums must be paid to the family and medical benefit insurance account and must be received by the department on or before the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter.

(b) If for any reason the wages on the wage detail report under section 268B.12 are adjusted for any quarter, the commissioner must recompute the premiums due for that quarter and assess the employer for any amount due or credit the employer as appropriate.

Subd. 2.Payments by electronic payment required.

(a) Every employer must make any payments due under this chapter by electronic payment.

(b) All third-party processors, paying on behalf of a client company, must make any payments due under this chapter by electronic payment.

(c) Regardless of paragraph (a) or (b), the commissioner has the discretion to accept payment by other means.

Subd. 3.Employee charge back.

Notwithstanding section 177.24, subdivision 4, or 181.06, subdivision 1, employers must pay a minimum of 50 percent of the annual premiums paid under this section. Employees, through a deduction in their wages to the employer, must pay the remaining portion, if any, of the premium not paid by the employer. Such deductions for any given employee must be in equal proportion to the premiums paid based on the wages of that employee. Deductions under this section must not cause an employee's wage, after the deduction, to fall below the rate required to be paid to the worker by law, including any applicable statute, regulation, rule, ordinance, government resolution or policy, or other legal authority, whichever rate of pay is greater.

Subd. 4.Wages and payments subject to premium.

The maximum wages subject to premium in a calendar year is equal to the maximum earnings in that year subject to the FICA Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance tax.

Subd. 5.Small business wage exclusion.

(a) For employers with fewer than 30 employees, the amount of wages upon which quarterly employer premium is required is reduced by the premium rate to be paid by the employer multiplied by the lesser of:

(1) $12,500 multiplied by the number of employees; or

(2) $120,000.

(b) For each employee over 20 employees, the exclusion is reduced by $12,000.

(c) The premium paid by the employer as a result of the reduction allowed under this subdivision must not be less than zero.

(d) The reduction in premiums paid by the employer is for the sole benefit of the employer and does not relieve the employer from deducting the employee portion of the premium.

Subd. 6.Annual employer premium rates.

The employer premium rates beginning January 1, 2026, shall be as follows:

(1) for an employer participating in both family and medical benefit programs, 0.7 percent;

(2) for an employer participating in only the medical benefit program and with an approved private plan for the family benefit program, 0.4 percent; and

(3) for an employer participating in only the family benefit program and with an approved private plan for the medical benefit program, 0.3 percent.

Subd. 7.Premium rate adjustments.

(a) Beginning January 1, 2027, and by July 31 of each year thereafter, the commissioner must adjust the annual premium rates using the formula in paragraph (b). In no year shall the annual premium rate exceed 1.2 percent of taxable wages paid to each employee.

(b) To calculate the employer rates for a calendar year, the commissioner must:

(1) multiply 1.45 times the amount disbursed from the family and medical benefit insurance account for the 52-week period ending September 30 of the prior year;

(2) subtract the amount in the family and medical benefit insurance account on that September 30 from the resulting figure;

(3) divide the resulting figure by the total wages in covered employment of employees of employers without approved private plans under section 268B.10 for either the family or medical benefit program. For employers with an approved private plan for either the medical benefit program or the family benefit program, but not both, count only the proportion of wages in covered employment associated with the program for which the employer does not have an approved private plan; and

(4) round the resulting figure down to the nearest one-hundredth of one percent.

(c) The commissioner must apportion the premium rate between the family and medical benefit programs based on the relative proportion of expenditures for each program during the preceding year.

Subd. 8.Deposit of premiums.

All premiums collected under this section must be deposited into the family and medical benefit insurance account.

Subd. 9.Nonpayment of premiums by employer.

The failure of an employer to pay premiums does not impact the right of an employee to benefits, or any other right, under this chapter.