Minnesota’s statewide wage floor for nursing-home employees took effect September 10, setting minimum hourly pay at $19 for general workers, $22.50 for certified nursing assistants, $23.50 for trained medication aides and $27 for licensed practical nurses. The Department of Labor and Industry said the standards became enforceable 30 days after federal regulators approved the Medicaid financing change that supports them.
The change affects nursing homes across Minnesota and creates occupation-specific minimums above the state’s general wage floor. MPR News reported that thousands of workers are receiving raises. The standards apply to covered nursing-home employees, not every worker in health care or every employee in assisted living and home-care settings.
The increases are not static. The state’s official wage table schedules another $1.50 hourly increase in each category on January 1, 2027: general workers will rise to $20.50, certified nursing assistants to $24, trained medication aides to $25 and licensed practical nurses to $28.50. Existing rules also require time-and-a-half pay for covered nursing-home workers who work during 11 specified state holidays.
How Minnesota is financing the requirement
The wage mandate was delayed from its earliest possible start because it depended on federal approval of a State Plan Amendment governing Medicaid nursing-facility payments. Minnesota’s rate-adjustment statute directs the Department of Human Services to calculate facility-specific increases using the gap between each covered employee’s prior wage and the new floor, along with employer payroll taxes and certain benefit costs. Facilities seeking the adjustment must report wages, compensated hours and a spending plan to the state.
That mechanism matters because Medicaid is a major payer for nursing-home care. It is designed to connect public reimbursement to the added compensation expense instead of leaving the wage rule as an unfunded instruction. The statute also allows the state to proportionally reduce preliminary adjustments if projected general-fund costs exceed the amount available, making state appropriations and implementation data important to the policy’s longer-term effect.
The Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board, created by the Legislature in 2023, has equal representation from worker and employer groups alongside state agency leaders. Its authority includes investigating industry conditions and adopting minimum employment standards. The board is holding September public forums in Rochester, Brainerd and St. Paul to collect feedback from workers, employers and community members as implementation proceeds.
For employees, the immediate issue is whether a paycheck covering work after September 10 reflects the correct occupation-specific floor. For operators, the practical tasks are payroll compliance, employee classification and documentation needed for Medicaid rate adjustments. The next statewide increase is already scheduled, so facilities must plan for another payroll change just over three months after implementation. Questions or wage complaints can be directed to the Department of Labor and Industry’s Labor Standards Division.
