Application Period Begins for Minnesota Frontline Worker Bonus Payment Program

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has opened up the window for individuals to apply for Frontline Worker Pay benefits. The program is intended to provide benefits to workers in specific job sectors who had to work in person during the COVID-19 pandemic (defined as the period from March 15, 2020, to June 30, 2021). Interested individuals have through July 22, 2022, to apply.

Part of the program includes a requirement for employers to provide notice by no later than June 23, 2022 to all current employees who may be eligible for the bonus payment program. The notice must provide basic information about the program and how to apply.  

The state has provided a notice that employers may use to meet this requirement. The notice must be provided by posting a copy where it may be “readily observed and reviewed” at each worksite where potentially eligible workers are located. Alternatively, employers may meet the requirement by providing a paper or electronic copy of the notice to all potentially eligible workers. 

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has on online toolkit that offers information and resources for individuals and companies, and it is available in English, Spanish, Hmong and Somali. The toolkit provides not only a sample employer notice, but also a fact sheet, basic information on how to apply, a set of FAQs, details about which job sectors are eligible (including specific examples of the types of jobs the law is intended to cover), and other sample communications that employers can use in line with the program’s requirements.  

For more information, please contact the Barnes & Thornburg attorney with whom you work or Tim Wong at 612-367-8725 or tim.wong@btlaw.com or Kenneth J. Yerkes at 317-231-7513 or kenneth.yerkes@btlaw.com. 

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