HF3691

Purpose

• Establish and clarify which workers are considered “essential employees” under Minnesota law, with a focus on emergency reliability and continuity of public safety and related services. The bill expands and specifies categories of workers who, during emergencies or related situations, are designated as essential employees, including emergency managers.

Main Provisions

• Defines “Essential employee” in Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 179A.03, subdivision 7 to include:
  • Firefighters
  • Peace officers subject to licensure under sections 626.84 to 626.863
  • 911 system personnel and police and fire department public safety dispatchers
  • Emergency managers
  • Guards at correctional facilities
  • Confidential employees
  • Supervisory employees
  • Assistant county attorneys
  • Assistant city attorneys
  • Principals and assistant principals
• For state employees, the bill further specifies that essential employees are:
  • All employees in law enforcement
  • Public safety radio communications operators
  • Health care professionals
  • Correctional guards
  • Professional engineering
  • Supervisory collective bargaining units
  • These state-employee categories are designated as essential irrespective of severance, and no other employees are included.
• For University of Minnesota employees, essential employees are:
  • All employees in law enforcement
  • Nursing
  • Professional and supervisory units
  • These are designated essential irrespective of severance, and no other employees are included.
• Defines various terms to support the designation, including:
  • Firefighters: salaried employees of a fire department whose duties include controlling extinguishing, preventing, detecting, or investigating fires.
• Exclusions and scope:
  • Employees for whom the state court administrator is the negotiating employer are not considered essential employees.
  • For Hennepin Healthcare System Inc. employees, essential employees are defined as all employees.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Revisions to how “essential employee” is defined by updating Minnesota Statutes to explicitly list additional categories (e.g., emergency managers) and to specify different groupings by employer (state agencies, University of Minnesota, Hennepin Healthcare).
• Introduces firm, employer-specific caps on who is included in the essential category (e.g., “irrespective of severance” and “no other employees” for state and University of Minnesota employees).
• Creates explicit exclusions (notably that certain employees—such as those whose negotiating employer is the state court administrator—are not designated essential).
• Connects the concept of essential employees to specific public safety and governmental roles across multiple institutions and systems.

Scope and Implications

• Applies to state government, University of Minnesota, and Hennepin Healthcare System employees (as defined by the bill).
• Aims to ensure that critical personnel in public safety, emergency response, health care, and related supervisory roles can be maintained or prioritized during emergencies or labor-related situations.
• Introduces a structured, tiered approach to who counts as essential, depending on the employer.

Terminology and Phrases (Key terms from the bill)

• Essential employee
• Emergency managers
• Firefighters
• Peace officers
• 911 system
• Public safety dispatchers
• Guards at correctional facilities
• Confidential employees
• Supervisory employees
• Assistant county attorneys
• Assistant city attorneys
• Principals and assistant principals
• Law enforcement
• Public safety radio communications operators
• Health care professionals
• Professional engineering
• Supervisory collective bargaining units
• Irrespective of severance
• No other employees
• State court administrator
• Negotiating employer
• University of Minnesota
• Hennepin Healthcare System Inc.

Impact Considerations

• Creates clearer expectations about which workers are considered essential during emergencies, potentially affecting staffing requirements, overtime, and continuity of operations.
• Sets distinct thresholds for essential status by employer, which may influence bargaining, severance decisions, and eligibility for certain protections or obligations during emergencies.

Relevant Terms - Essential employee - emergency managers - state employees - University of Minnesota - Hennepin Healthcare System Inc. - law enforcement - public safety - 911 system - public safety dispatchers - health care professionals - professional engineering - supervisory collective bargaining units - severance - negotiating employer - state court administrator - confidential employees - principals and assistant principals - correctional guards