Editor’s Note: This article should be read consecutively with Tom Clement’s Mothering Justice v Attorney General: Minimum Wage and Paid Leave article.
Good policy takes time. A prime example are the changes needed to realistically implement the paid leave requirements the Michigan Supreme Court recently ordered back into effect starting Feb. 21.
That ruling reinstates the Earned Sick Time Act, a former ballot proposal that contains several key implementation gaps in its original format. The legislature can address these this fall. There’s good precedent for implementation changes on initiated laws (those brought forward via ballot proposal). Recent examples include the legalization of Marijuana, reproductive rights, and voting laws.
The following five changes would honor the intent of the original proposal, while making it feasible for both employers and employees.
- Exempt employers with policies that meet or exceed the number of hours required, including all forms of paid leave (e.g. vacation).
- Allow employers to front-load time off to avoid complicated accruals
and to allow the employee to use time as needed.
- Add a small employer exemption and apply the Act to only full- and
part-time employees averaging 20 or more hours per week in 20 weeks. (There’s good logic to exempting employers with fewer than 50 employees; most don’t have their own HR teams to navigate complicated requirements and it’s a threshold already honored by the federal Family Medical Leave Act [FMLA].)
- Limit requested leave time to be used in four-hour/half-day increments and require notification prior to the start of the shift unless an employee is incapacitated.
- Remove language allowing private lawsuits for violations and rebuttable presumption language that presumes the employer is guilty. Enforcement and penalties should be handled uniformly and fairly by the state.
Momentum is growing behind the need for changes to grant employees flexibility on paid leave, keep businesses operating smoothly, and protect truly small operations from unworkable provisions. The legislature has an opportunity to protect the spirit of the petition and the economy with these changes. With your help, we can encourage lawmakers to make changes quickly, giving all employers and employees time to prepare. Contact your legislators and ask them to make these five changes to the Earned Sick Time Act this fall before it’s too late.
Amy Drumm
Senior VP, Government Affairs
Michigan Retailers Association
