The leave shall begin at a time requested by the employee. The employer may adopt reasonable policies governing the timing of requests for unpaid leave and may require an employee who plans to take a leave under this section to give the employer reasonable notice of the date the leave shall commence and the estimated duration of the leave. For leave taken under subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (1), the leave must begin within 12 months of the birth or adoption; except that, in the case where the child must remain in the hospital longer than the mother, the leave must begin within 12 months after the child leaves the hospital.
An employer shall not discharge, discipline, penalize, interfere with, threaten, restrain, coerce, or otherwise retaliate or discriminate against an employee for requesting or obtaining a leave of absence as provided by this section.
The employer must continue to make coverage available to the employee while on leave of absence under any group insurance policy, group subscriber contract, or health care plan for the employee and any dependents. Nothing in this section requires the employer to pay the costs of the insurance or health care while the employee is on leave of absence.
Minn. Stat. § 181.941
1987 c 359 s 2; 1990 c 577 s 2; 2014 c 239 art 3 s 2