Update: Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the bills on Friday, just hours after they were sent to her by the Legislature. Technically, the earlier minimum wage and sick leave laws were in effect for several hours. But the new laws signed by Whitmer have retroactivity clauses. In a statement, Whitmer said the new laws are the product of bipartisan compromises that still provide better wages and guaranteed sick leave.
The Michigan Legislature passed a bill to change the state’s sick leave law late Thursday night, within an hour of it taking effect.
The original law let workers for large businesses earn 72 hours of paid sick leave, depending on how many hours they worked. Under that plan, employees for smaller companies could earn up to 40 hours of paid sick leave and another 32 hours of unpaid leave.
The bill cut that extra 32 hours of unpaid sick leave but kept the 72 hours of paid leave for larger businesses. It also gives small businesses until October to comply with the sick leave law.
State Senator Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) helped lead Senate Democrats in negotiations over the bill with Republicans who wanted to exempt small businesses altogether.
“We thought the fundamental piece was that every employee, and any business should provide sick time,” Singh said. “When you take a look at most of the states in the country that actually have this, they don't differentiate based on size.”
Michigan’s sick leave policies have been a concern for lawmakers since last summer. That’s when the Michigan Supreme Court ruled the Legislature broke the law in 2018 by amending the petition-initiated Earned Sick Time Act before it could take effect.
The court restored the law, and another regarding minimum wage near to their original form and set the February 21, 2025, date for them to go into place.
Some Democrats and labor groups behind the original laws opposed making any further changes this time around, saying the voters who signed the petition back in 2018 deserved to see their laws enacted.
“The policy falls short of giving folks — many of whom live paycheck to paycheck — a fair sick time policy and solid worker protections,” Representative Tonya Myers-Phillips (D-Detroit) said in a press release about the bill passed Thursday night.
Business groups had argued the unamended law would create a HR headache and not include enough accountability for employees using their sick time. They also shared concerns about what planned minimum wage increases would mean for restaurants and bars.
A headache could still be coming, however. Even with both chambers of the legislature passing the bills to change the sick leave and minimum wage laws before that midnight Friday morning deadline.
Procedurally, the sick leave bill did not reach Governor Gretchen Whitmer by midnight for her to sign it. Because the bills were tied together so neither could take effect unless both did, the original sick leave and minimum wage policies took effect for at least some time Friday morning.
Despite the late-night legislative session, Republicans who sided with business groups during the negotiations were accepting of the sick leave compromise.
They pointed to language in the bill that makes it clear businesses can voluntarily provide all the required sick time up front and not have to worry about counting how many hours their employees work as a win.
The bill also requires employees to try to comply with their company’s sick leave policies in a try to address concerns over possible no-call no-shows.
Republican Representative Jay DeBoyer (Clay Twp) sponsored the bill. He said he’s happy lawmakers found a compromise.
“At the end of the day, relative to what’s coming at us tomorrow, this is a win because what was coming at us tomorrow would have gutted small business, it would’ve affected workers in the state,” DeBoyer said.
This may not be the end of the saga, however.
The group behind the original minimum wage law has already promised to try to undo the legislature’s changes at the ballot box.
Rick Pluta contributed to this story.
