A Michigan Senate committee heard testimony Wednesday on a Democratic-backed bill to soften the state’s sick leave law.
That law is set to take effect later this month on February 21. It will require employers to provide their employees with an hour of sick time for every 30 hours they work.
Businesses with at least ten employees will have to let their workers use at least 72 hours of paid sick time each year. Smaller businesses will only have to allow 40 hours of paid sick time annually. The other 32 hours would be unpaid.
State Senator Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) chairs the Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee. He said lawmakers need to clarify confusion over what the sick leave law would mean in practice for businesses and workers.
“We're hearing from all sectors of our economy, from employers and employees about the path forward as we approach this February 21st deadline. And we're going to be deliberative about it,” Moss said.
The bill before Moss’s committee would increase who counts as a small business to companies with less than 25 workers, meaning fewer people would qualify for the full 72 hours of paid sick time.
That was among the concerns coming from the business community, which has pushed lawmakers to scale back the requirements since the Michigan Supreme Court affirmed the law last year.
Groups like the National Federation of Independent Business have pushed for small businesses to receive a carveout from the law altogether.
“A small business exemption is so key,” NFIB Michigan State Director Amanda Fisher said. “The smaller businesses just don't have the bandwidth.”
Another concern of businesses is how the law’s requirements to track sick leave accrual would conflict with existing benefits employers may offer.
The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity has said businesses can voluntarily provide all the required sick time at the start of the year if they prefer. But business groups aren’t so sure.
David Worthams is with the Michigan Manufacturers Association.
We appreciate the interpretation that our friends from the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity have laid out, saying, yes, you can frontload. But, at the end of the day, the statute doesn't say that,” Worthams said. “So we need to get that clarified.”
The Senate bill would explicitly allow that to happen.
But other groups are fighting any and all changes to the law ahead of it taking effect.
Danielle Atkinson is with Mothering Justice, the group that led the lawsuit to have the Earned Sick Time Act affirmed to begin with. She pushed lawmakers to wait to see how the policy plays out in practice before messing with it.
“Workers are expecting it, and we worked on this policy with a variety of people, business owners and experts throughout the country and we know that it is what Michigan people need and are calling for,” Atkinson said.
She said all tactics, including collecting signatures to get another policy on the ballot, are on the table should lawmakers not heed her group’s calls.
As for other business concerns, like employees potentially not facing enough accountability for calling off at the last minute, Atkinson encouraged more compassion.
“Business lobbyists really need to understand how people live, love, and care. And we know that people are not abusing earned sick time because they need it for when they’re actually sick. And we also know that everyone gets sick, but unfortunately, not everyone has time to get well,” Atkinson said.
With the February 21 deadline fast approaching, the future of the legislation is up in the air.
The bill could move out of the Senate committee and possibly see a vote as early as next week. But it would still need to make it out of the Republican-led House of Representatives before it gets to the governor.
And House Republicans are pushing their own legislation on that matter that currently also sits in committee in the Senate.
