Groups that ran the campaign to adopt a law to guarantee employees in Michigan can bank up to 72 hours of paid sick leave have set their sights on a new goal: a state-managed program to allow workers up to 15 weeks of paid time off to deal with medical emergencies, maternity or paternity leave, or helping to care for a sick or dying loved one.
The centerpiece would be a fund financed by employee and employer contributions to replace most of a worker’s lost earnings during that period. There are bills introduced by Democrats in both the House and the Senate.
“This is for that long-term need where the ability to take a few days off doesn’t cut it,” said state Senator Erika Geiss (D-Taylor), who has sponsored a Senate package. “It would mean that employers would put money into the pot, the employee would put money into the pot and it would be a state-run medical leave program.”
This is on the heels of a decision Wednesday by the Michigan Supreme Court to restore the original language of the 2018 initiative that allows workers to bank up to 72 hours of paid sick leave. The court majority held the Republican-controlled Legislature violated the Michigan Constitution when it changed the terms of the initiative after adopting it before the November election.
The court majority held the Legislature, then controlled by Republicans, violated the Michigan Constitution by first adopting, and then changing, the language of the voter-approved initiative.
Danielle Atkinson with the group Mothering Justice said the new proposal would build on that victory and work toward family-friendly policies to help people through big life events.
“Welcoming a child into your life and into your family, or when you get that cancer diagnosis, or when you’re at the end of a journey with a parent or an elder -- that all takes time,” she said. “And time without pay means people are not able to do what we are supposed to do, which is care for one another.”
The group said the proposal is patterned after similar programs in 13 other states, and an actuarial study determined the idea is fiscally viable.
Geiss said she hopes to begin hearings after the Legislature reconvenes following its summer recess. The Legislature’s Democratic leadership was circumspect.
“I am not aware of any specific plans for the legislation nor a timeline for action,” said Amber McCann, press secretary for House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit).
