Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is expected to sign a Bill passed by the state legislature on May 23rd to provide extensive protection for all workers including employees of poultry and meat packing plants.
The Bill bans non-compete agreements and requires paid sick days for workers employed by nursing homes, warehouses, on construction sites and by public institutions. Meat and poultry plants with more than one hundred workers will be required to implement safety training and to introduce projects to reduce musculoskeletal injury. An important objective of the Bill is to empower workers to refuse activities reasonably considered to be dangerous. Packing plant operators will be required to pay employees for downtime during modifications to remove a hazard.
The question arises as to whether the Act will inhibit investment in new packing facilities in Minnesota and whether other states will introduce similar legislation. Given the response by states including South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado and Iowa during COVID in 2020 action to provide workers in egg and poultry plants with additional safety measures appears unlikely.