FAIRMONT – In response to a rise in interest and concerns about the Minnesota Paid Leave law taking effect on Jan. 1, 2026, Crystal Hanson, Founder and Principal Consultant of South Creek HR, is collaborating with the Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce to host a workshop.

The workshop will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at the Best Western in Fairmont.

Hanson said potential paid leave changes and additions had been on her radar for some time.

“We’ve known for two years now this was coming,” she said. “The focus initially was on the Earn Sick and Safe Leave that went into play in 2024. I think a lot of us were very focused on making sure we had that first law that went into effect, ready to go.”

More recently, she said Paid Leave has become a big topic of discussion in her capacity with South Creek HR.

“Over the last four weeks, I’ve been getting a lot of calls from small businesses that need help on getting their policy together, and getting a lot of the same types of questions. I got to the point where I said, ‘I think I should just put on a workshop and we’ll spend an hour and try to help companies going through the same thing right now.'”

Hanson said there are no solid outlines available from the state for small businesses regarding this plan. She said this is due to the nuances each company has in their current time off policies, such as Paid Leave interacting with current paid time off (PTO) policies, potential usage of PTO to supplement money received while on paid leave and timing of other benefits such as short-term disability.

Once she had the idea in mind, Hanson said she was able to collaborate with the Chamber to help with the event and Best Western to find a time and space available.

To be able to offer this information for local businesses in this time of change is something Hanson said is important to her.

“It is what I do for a living,” she said. “I really enjoy getting to work with a number of different companies. This is a community I grew up in and graduated from, and it’s been really fun here professionally to help out companies of all industries.”

On the Chamber side, President Kandi Menne said this is a unique opportunity for businesses, and the Chamber is appreciative of Hanson for offering this workshop.

“There are very few businesses with one or more employees that are exempt to this new law, and a well-written handbook that clearly outlines policies, procedures and employee rights reduces confusion for both employees and managers,” she said. “Having a clear policy also gives HR and managers the guidance they need to properly handle leave requests, manage payroll and avoid costly mistakes.”

The workshop focuses on designing a policy and will address HR implications and related nuances. Legal advice will not be given.

When all is said and done, Hanson said she hopes it is a great hour and a half spent by all involved.

“[I hope] they leave with a policy they can take back and have it about 90 percent there,” she said. “I’m saying 90 [ercent because there are going to be things [they’ll] have to make a couple of phone calls to their benefit providers to make sure they align.”

The workshop will have 24 openings for businesses, first-come, first-served and costs $149. To register, find the listing at cca.fairmontchamber.org/webforms/EvtListing.aspx. For more information, call the Chamber at 507-235-5547 or Crystal Hanson at 507-236-1124