By: Drew Beardslee – VP, Government Affairs
Earned Sick Time Act
Late last night, Republicans and Democrats in the Michigan legislature reached a compromise to fix key components of the Earned Sick Time Act, which was set to take effect at midnight. The Senate passed a substitute of HB 4002 around 10:45, and the House concurred in the changes around 11:15, with the bills being presented to the Governor in the middle of the night and signed Friday morning.
The compromise language avoids the worst of the potential negative impacts, providing some safeguards to small businesses, defined in the Act as businesses employing 10 or fewer employees, from the most onerous paid leave requirements. Still, while the legislature softened the blow, there will be downstream consequences of these changes felt by Michigan retail businesses of all sizes. Our team is digesting the changes and assessing the impact, especially as new information becomes available from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity regarding implementation and enforcement.
Michigan Retailers Association remains engaged on this issue and will continue to assess additional changes that could be made in the future as the consequences of this version begin to be felt. The attached graph provides an overview of the changes to the Earned Sick Time Act and should equip you with the knowledge necessary to begin implementation. We will continue to provide information as appropriate along with suggested personnel manual templates that may be useful in the coming days.
Minimum Wage
In addition to the Earned Sick Time changes, the legislature also passed SB 8, which was tie barred to HB 4002 and pertains to minimum and tipped wage. While tipped wage does not necessarily pertain to all MRA members, SB 8 provides that the minimum wage will increase from the current $10.57 to $12.48 on Feb. 21, 2025; $13.73 on Jan. 1, 2026; $15 Jan. 1, 2027; and based on inflation in subsequent years. The tipped wage will remain at 38% in 2025, increasing 2% per year until it reaches 50% in 2031.
If you have any questions, please reach out to askusfirst@retailers.com or directly to Drew at abeardslee@retailers.com.
View or Download the Issue Paper
