This is sometimes called the "right to refuse work", which creates confusion for employees and employers. If employees find themselves in a situation where they reasonably believe that the work which their employer is requiring them to do places their life or health in imminent danger of death or serious harm, they may decline to perform it. According to the Minnesota Statutes, this reasonable belief includes, but is not limited to, a belief that the employee has been assigned to work in an "...unsafe or unhealthful manner with a hazardous substance, harmful physical agent, or infectious agent."

In using this right, the employee has some obligations. The first of these is that the employee must ask the employer to make the work safe. The point at which the employer declines to do so is the point at which the employee has the right to refuse to do that work. Second, the employee must perform any other work which the employer may assign. The employee does not have the right to simply leave the work place, but must remain available to perform safe work.

An employer may not discriminate against an employee for a good faith refusal to perform assigned tasks if the employee has requested that the employer correct the hazardous condition, but the condition remains uncorrected. That means that the employee cannot be fired for using this right.

In Minnesota, the law provides that an employee who has refused in good faith to perform assigned tasks and who has not been assigned to other work by the employer shall receive pay for the work which would have been performed if two things happen: first, the employee requests the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry (MnOSHA) to inspect and determine the nature of the hazardous condition and second, the commissioner determines that the employee would have been placed in imminent danger of death or serious physical harm by performing the assigned tasks.