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    • Michigan House Lawmakers Introduce Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave Bills
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    Michigan House Lawmakers Introduce Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave Bills

    Umito Posted on

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    Overlooking the lame duck session of the Michigan Legislature by the end of the year are impending changes to state minimum wage and paid sick leave policies, both set to take effect in February due to an order issued by the Michigan Supreme Court earlier this year.

    Reps. Nate Shannon, D-Sterling Heights, and Graham Filler, R-Duplain Township, introduced legislation to address the changes, supporting legislation that sets the minimum wage at $12 an hour next year. instead of the hourly rate of $12.48, it should be on Feb. 21, 2025. The legislation would also result in a gradual increase in the hourly minimum wage until it reaches $15 in 2029, a year later than currently planned under the state’s timeline. Department of Labor and Economic Opportunitywhich sets the minimum wage at $14.97 per hour in February 2028.

    The invoice would also preserve the tipped minimum wage in Michigan. The tipped minimum wage is the lowest hourly wage paid to workers expected to make up the difference in tips, such as restaurant servers and bartenders. Absent legislative action, the tipped minimum wage is expected to be phased out in Michigan, placing tipped workers at the standard minimum wage in 2030.

    The second invoice for the package discusses the State’s Earned Sick Leave Act.

    If Lansing leaders cannot reach an agreement, Michigan workers will win one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked beginning February 21, 2025. Businesses with 10 or more employees will be required to allow workers to use up to 72 hours of paid sick leave if accrued. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees will be required to allow their workers to use up to 40 hours of paid sick leave if accrued, and up to 32 hours of unpaid sick leave. The new rules will not apply to workers employed by the federal government.

    The bills have been referred to the House Regulatory Reform Committee, where they await a hearing. Even if the bills advance through the House, they will still need approval from the Senate and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to take effect.

    Democrats, poised to lose control of the House of Representatives after the November elections, face either rejection from their allies in the labor community who have urged them not to weaken workers’ wage increases and their capacity to gain paid leave, or to the anger of companies. advocacy groups who have been calling for months to prevent the planned changes from being implemented.

    A spokesman for House Speaker Joe Tate, a Detroit Democrat, said discussions about possible legislation to address minimum wage and paid sick leave laws were ongoing.

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    “A final decision has not yet been made,” Amber McCann, a spokeswoman for House Democrats, said by email.

    Filler said he’s confident lawmakers and the governor’s office will reach consensus on the changes, adding that it’s the “number one issue” he’s fielded calls for in his district.

    “I hope to reach something negotiated in the next three weeks,” he said.

    In July, the The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the legislature acted unconstitutionally in 2018 when it adopted the text of the petition to raise the minimum wage and expand paid sick leave requirements for employers, but it amended the text to delay the minimum wage increase and exempt most companies from having to comply with paid sick leave requirements.

    The court ruling, however, reversed the 2018 changes and set a date of February 21, 2025 for the planned changes to take effect.

    Business advocacy groups have besieged Parliament with calls to either roll back the changes or reach a compromise on minimum wage and paid leave policies. Tipped workers also organized, and many expressed concerns that their wages would be reduced if tipping was eliminated.

    In September, a group of leading Michigan business organizations presented proposed changes to the paid leave policyincluding restoring exemptions for businesses with fewer than 50 employees, allowing employers to increase paid leave at the start of each year, rather than requiring employees to accrue it, and removing provisions allowing employees to submit notice of use of leave “as soon as possible”. .”

    But organizers of the initial petitions called on lawmakers to leave the court’s ruling intact, saying Michigan workers will benefit from higher wages and the ability to accrue paid leave. Labor groups also urged Democratic leaders not to roll back ongoing raises. In September, several major unions in the state, including the Michigan Education Association and the Michigan AFL-CIO, sent a letter to Tate and Majority Leader Sen. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, urging them to “strongly support these workers’ gains and reject any attempt to obstruct or undermine them.”

    If lawmakers fail to reach consensus on minimum wage and paid sick leave legislation during the lame duck, it’s possible that Republicans could pass legislation when they take control of the House in January. New House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, said last week that the problem “is the most important problem facing the state as a lame duck right now.”

    Free Press writer Clara Hendrickson contributed to this report.

    Contact Arpan Lobo: [email protected].

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