Senate opens debate on looming changes to paid sick leave in Michigan

Yahoo

06-02-2025

The Michigan Senate opened its debate Wednesday over looming changes to Michigan's paid sick leave policy set to take effect later this month, hearing testimony on legislation that would roll back some of the requirements for employers.
The changes are brought on by a 2024 Michigan Supreme Court ruling that found the state Legislature, controlled by Republicans at the time, acted unconstitutionally in 2018 when it adopted a pair of voter initiatives on minimum wage and paid sick leave and then later amended them in the same legislative session.
The approaching increase to Michigan's minimum wage — set to rise to $12.48 an hour on Feb. 21 — has garnered significant attention in Lansing, as restaurant industry groups and tipped workers have descended on the Capitol to ask lawmakers to maintain the tipped minimum wage, set to be gradually phased out.
Paid sick time policies have not been as hotly contested, but are also set to undergo significant changes in Michigan on the same day.
Under the pending changes, employees in Michigan will earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Businesses with 10 or more employees will have to allow workers to use up to 72 hours of paid sick leave if accrued. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees will have to allow 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 won't apply to workers employed by the federal government.
Senate Bill 15, sponsored by Sen. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, would instead require businesses with more than 25 employees, versus 10, to allow workers to accrue up to 72 hours of paid sick time, as a minimum. Businesses with fewer than 25 employees would be classified as small businesses and have to allow workers to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick time and another 32 hours of unpaid sick time.
The bill would also allow businesses to front-load sick time at the start of each year, rather than requiring employees to accrue it. If an employer pays out unused sick time at the end of the year, employees would be allowed to carry over up to 144 accrued hours. If the employer doesn't pay out remaining sick time, employees would be able to carry over up to 288 hours.
Advocates for an expanded paid sick leave policy in Michigan argue that by enabling workers to have stable sick time, they are able to care for themselves or their loved ones without having to worry about missing out on wages. Proponents also argue that providing paid sick time would discourage employees from coming into work when they are sick, which could expose coworkers or customers to an illness. They oppose the changes.
Danielle Atkinson, founder and executive director of Mothering Justice, a group that led the original ballot initiative in 2018, said rolling back paid sick time requirements for businesses with 25 employees or less "would be stripping workers of their hard-won rights." She asked legislators to take a "wait and act approach" with paid sick time in Michigan rather than preemptively roll back the law.
There are concerns from some business owners about the new requirements being untenable, however. David Robb, owner of Express Employment Professionals in Grand Rapids, said employers are particularly employed with administrative requirements under the new law, particularly having to track accrual of paid sick time.
'They want to support their employees, they want to provide sick leave and paid time off, but they want it in a way that makes sense as an employer, they want it in a way that's competitive with other states, and a way that's competitive as well," Robb said.
Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate to change sick time and minimum wage policies. The GOP-controlled House passed a pair of bills in January that would establish new guidelines for both policies, but the Senate, led by Democrats, has not been as quick to move. Along with SB 15, Senate Bill 8, a measure that would preserve Michigan's tipped minimum wage while increasing the standard minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2027, was introduced by Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores.
During a Committee on Regulatory Affairs hearing Wednesday, Sen. Roger Hauck, R-Mount Pleasant, made a motion to report the House GOP-backed plan for paid sick leave and minimum wage, House Bills 4001 and 4002, to the full Senate floor, but was unsuccessful.
The committee did not take testimony on SB 8 Wednesday due to time constraints. Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, said the committee would take it up and take further testimony on SB 15 next week.
Committee deliberation is the first step in the legislative process, as bills typically are advanced through committee before being brought to the floor to be voted on by the full chamber.
It's not clear the bill will advance for a vote before state law changes on Feb. 21. Sen. Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, said Monday the chamber is engaged in conversations with stakeholders about the new policies.
"We certainly have had a lot of conversations around these bills," Brinks said. "We have bills introduced. We will continue to have those conversations."
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, following an event Wednesday morning in Grand Rapids, told reporters she's met with legislative leaders repeatedly to discuss pending changes to paid sick time and minimum wage laws in Michigan, noting, "This deadline is looming, and we've got to follow the law.
"They've got to work together," Whitmer said. "It's a Republican-controlled House now and a Democratic-controlled Senate. I think that there probably is common ground to be had, and we're trying to encourage those conversations to move along."
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Paid sick leave in Michigan: Senate committee opens debate on bill