State’s Paid Leave Program is Off to Fast Start

(Learfield News/Undated) – Minnesota’s new Paid Leave program is off to a fast start.

In just the first three months, the Department of Employment and Economic Development says more than 62,000 people have applied.

Deputy Commissioner Evan Rowe says they’ve approved about 43,000 applications so far and denied roughly 19,000, mostly because of simple mistakes or people applying to the wrong place.

Rowe says they’ve also caught dozens of fraudulent applications, but stresses the number is small thanks to multiple layers of identity checks and document reviews.

DEED had expected about 130,000 applications in the program’s first year.