Hearings on legislation to roll back the changes began Wednesday in the Michigan Senate as the clock runs out on a February 21 deadline set by a Michigan Supreme Court order to enact ballot initiative reforms on the state’s earned sick leave and minimum wage laws.
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled last year that the then-GOP-controlled Legislature had violated the Constitution in 2018 when it approved and then revoked ballot measures put forth by citizens to raise the state’s minimum wage and force employers to provide sick leave.
With bipartisan support, the GOP-controlled House enacted provisions in January to limit the 2018 laws, despite Republican claims that they would harm companies, especially eateries. The Senate, which is governed by Democrats, will take action this week.
After a contentious debate, proposals pertaining to sick leave and the minimum wage pass the Michigan House with bipartisan support.
The earned sick leave provision, which, if left unchanged, would require employers with fewer than 10 employees to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave and 32 hours of unpaid leave, while companies with 10 or more employees must provide a full 72 hours of paid sick leave, was the focus of the Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee’s attention on Wednesday.
State Senator Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), the chair of the committee, stated at the beginning of the hearing that “this conversation, this public debate, should have happened years ago back in 2018 when the people of Michigan first made their voices heard on this issue.” I want to start by acknowledging the frustration that many of us feel about even being in this position today, and that frustration is justified because that full and open discussion didn’t happen.
Senator Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) introduced Senate Bill 15, which would expand the definition of a small business from having fewer than 10 employees to having fewer than 25 employees. The committee heard hearing on the bill. In place of the 40 hours of paid leave and 32 hours of unpaid leave accrued over the year, those small enterprises would therefore be required to offer their employees 40 hours of paid sick leave and 30 hours of unpaid sick leave at the start of the year. Additionally, it would provide employers the choice to offer employees at least 72 hours of paid earned sick leave at the start of each year.
Singh, who was the first to testify, claimed that his bill made a sincere attempt to both answer employer concerns and uphold the goals of the ballot initiative.
We have discussed in our Senate Bill 15 that we still wish to fulfill the pledge that was set to be put to the voters in 2018: that all employees should have some form of access to paid earned leave. Thus, this does. This strategy aligns well with states around the nation that define small businesses as those who operate for 40 [hours] a day. I would want to remind everyone that this was recently on the ballots in Missouri and Alaska in November. These projects were approved by both of them.
State Senator Dan Lauwers (R-Brockway) asked Singh if the bill’s changes would be enough to prevent negative consequences for small business owners, particularly with regard to the clauses requiring employers to be notified when employees use earned sick leave.
According to Singh’s plan, workers who need time off for predictable reasons—like a doctor’s appointment—may be asked to give seven days’ notice. However, in situations where that isn’t the case, like an unexpected illness, they must notify others of their desire as soon as is reasonably possible. Employers with required staffing ratios would be the lone exception.
Lauwers was concerned that firms with a small workforce could find the terminology unclear.
“How do I run my place?,” he asked, “is probably the biggest concern that I hear from my constituents and even myself.” I managed a company that began with just one worker and developed into the twenties, but for years I had between fifty and thirty-three percent of the workforce. It would have likely shut me down for the day if two of my employees had chosen to stay at home due to illness, to care for a loved one, or for any other reason. However, even the night before, I would have received some sort of notice. That probably reflects a lot of extremely small firms, and I could probably call on a family member or anything.
Singh retorted that the phrase “practicable notice” was lifted from the 1993 congressionally authorized federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Sean Egan, the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s deputy director of labor, was questioned about the possibility that employees may take advantage of the wording of the notice obligation.
This act does not prohibit an employer from penalizing workers who misuse any form of system. This act’s protections that pertain to advance notice or even as soon as is practical are not comprehensive. According to Egan, we employ the FMLA, which I mentioned has contained that phrase ever since it went into force. As soon as it is feasible, they have. Litigation has already been defined.
Mothering Justice’s founding director, Danielle Atkinson, spearheaded the campaign to get the earned sick leave bill on the ballot and pass it. According to Atkinson, her group vehemently opposed SB 15.
Families in Michigan are going through the most challenging economic circumstances of their lives, and Medicaid and the social safety net as a whole are under threat. This proposed law is neither a beginning point for negotiations nor a compromise. She claimed that doing so would essentially be depriving workers of their hard-won rights.
The great majority of Michigan workers would not be covered to the same degree if Singh’s proposal went into effect as is on February 21 since it redefines the size of a small business from 10 to 25 employees, according to Atkinson.
According to her, hundreds of thousands of Michigan workers do not have any earned sick leave, which is a sad reality. Due to their 60% higher likelihood of not having access to paid leave, Black employees are disproportionately impacted. Every time we make exclusions or loopholes for business size, we are harming extremely vulnerable groups, and this law would exacerbate the differences in leave by gender and race.
A series of GOP-sponsored bills that passed the Republican-controlled House last month and would virtually eliminate the minimum wage and paid sick leave provisions were not discussed at Wednesday’s session.
By fully exempting firms with 50 or fewer employees from the new rules and removing wording that would allow employees to file a civil lawsuit if their employer violates the legislation, House Bills 4001 and 4002 would largely erase what is scheduled to take effect on February 21.
Additionally, it would significantly change the minimum wage laws that are about to go into force. In order to achieve equity for all workers by 2030, the state’s minimum wage would gradually eliminate the lower tipped wage rate and raise to $12.48 per hour immediately, followed by a phased increase to $14.97 by 2028.
However, the Republican-sponsored bill would delay the projected minimum wage hikes by about a year, bringing the tipped salary up to $15 at the beginning of 2029 instead of $14.97 by February 21, 2028. It would also maintain the tipped wage at 38% of the state minimum wage. Employees under the age of 18 would also see a pay rate reduction from 85% to 75% of the minimum wage.
The Democratic-controlled Senate is unlikely to approve those bills, and the Republican-controlled House will be hesitant to support Singh’s legislation and Senate Bills 6, 7, and 8, which would raise Michigan’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2027 while maintaining the tipped credit at 38% for the rest of 2025 and then progressively raising and capping it at 60% over a ten-year period.
Additionally, they would forbid misclassifying employees as independent contractors and restrict paying wages below the legal minimum, while enabling workers to anonymously complain against their employers.
With that impasse clearly visible and just more than two weeks before the first measures go into force, those opposed to the ballot initiatives urged Congress to reach a compromise.
The Michigan state director of NFIB, an organization that supports small and independent businesses, Amanda Fisher, stated that the Legislature had to take action quickly to avoid leaving small businesses with an expensive mandate that they cannot afford. The Senate’s decision to take up this subject and begin the process of reaching a consensus with the House on reasonable ESTA amendments is encouraging.
Moss said next week will see a follow-up hearing on the proposal.
GET THE HEADLINES FOR THE MORNING.
Eliot Pierce is a dedicated writer for ChiefsFocus.com, covering local crime and finance news. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, Eliot aims to provide his readers with clear and insightful analysis, helping them navigate the complexities of their financial lives while staying informed about important local events. His commitment to delivering accurate and engaging content makes him a valuable resource for the community.