Safeguards catching attempted fraud in Minnesota's paid leave program, officials say – KSTP

Minnesota’s new paid leave program has seen attempts at fraud within its first month, according to state officials.

The program, which offers 12-20 weeks of paid, job-protected leave for medical or family reasons, is funded by employer and employee premiums. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) reported receiving 38,000 applications, approving 13,000, and distributing $30 million so far.

RELATED: House committee aims to prevent fraud in Paid Family and Medical Leave program

Among leave applicants, about 48% are taking time for bonding, 41% for medical reasons, 10% for caring or family leave, and less than 1% for safety or military leave. DEED has identified multiple fraud attempts and referred cases to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, though they did not disclose the exact number of fraud cases.

“Broadly speaking, the vectors for fraud are when people aren’t who they claim to be, when they submit false documentation to us suggesting they…

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