LANSING (WWJ) -- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed two bipartisan bills that she says will protect Michigan families against rising costs and inflation by increasing the state’s minimum wage and expanding paid sick leave policies.
After much debate and delay, a bill was passed in Lansing Thursday night modifying Michigan's paid sick leave policy — just before the midnight deadline.
The original law required all businesses to allow employees to earn unpaid sick time, which some in the restaurant industry argued would cripple and swiftly shutter many mom-and-pop shops.
The new bill (House Bill 4002) gives small businesses until October to figure out how to give all employees 40 hours of paid leave.
Republican State Representative Mike Harris, from Waterford, called it a "compromise bill."
"You know, our clerk staff went through this as quickly as possible to get it prepared to present to the governor. We presented it to the governor's office at about 1:30 in the morning," Harris said, speaking live on WWJ Newsradio 950 Friday morning.
"And of course we wanted to resolve this issue months ago, so workers and small businesses weren't just hanging out in limbo," he added. "But we're glad we got the deal done with the Senate Democrats."
The Senate voted narrowly voted to allow the bill to take immediate effect.
Under this bill, a small business — defined in the bill as 10 or fewer employees — would be required to provide 40 hours of paid sick time, compared to 72 hours for all other employers.
Harris said the bill allows small businesses to implement the law by Oct. 1, 2025, and new businesses will have a three-year grace period. Larger businesses are going to have to start right away.
Under this legislation, employees can use paid sick time to address their physical or mental health needs, or the needs of a family member, or for meetings at a child’s school or a place of care tied to a child's health. It can also be used if a workplace is closed due to a public health emergency, to care for a child or family member whose school or workplace is closed due to a public health emergency. (Read more details here).
The bill does require workers to provide a 7-day notice for foreseeable absences, and to provide notification as soon as practicable for unforeseeable absences.
Lawmakers tied the legislation to a separate minimum wage bill. Earlier this week, the Michigan House approved a bill (Senate Bill 8) that would stop the lower minimum wage for tipped workers from being phased out.
This legislation would raise the state minimum wage to $15 by 2027 and increase the tipped minimum wage from 38% to 50% by 2031, rather than phasing it out.
"There's a lot of concern out there about tipped employees, and how that (phasing out the lower minimum wage for servers) might effect tipping behavior at the table," said Wendy Block with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, live on WWJ. "And so the legislature found a solution to increase the wage that tipped employees make, without fully eliminating that tipped minimum wage."
Block said the pubic should take note that, under this bill, tipped employees would still be paid only 38% of the standard minimum wage for the time being.
"Overall, for your listeners, what they need to know is that the law has not changed for tipped employees," she said. "So you should continue to tip at the table as you normally have."
A release from the governor's office said this legislation bolsters the Whitmer-Gilchrist administration’s commitment to supporting working families and small businesses by forging a commonsense solution that keeps Michigan competitive to earn a paycheck and build your business.
"Michigan workers deserve fair wages and benefits so they can pay the bills and take care of their family, and small businesses needs our support to keep creating good jobs in Michigan,” said Whitmer, in a statement.
“I’m proud to sign these two bipartisan bills into law that will raise wages, ensure workers can take time off to care for themselves or their loved ones, and continue growing our economy. This commonsense compromise was made possible by the Republicans and Democrats who worked together to forge a fair, bipartisan deal. I hope we can build on this momentum to keep passing commonsense, bipartisan legislation that makes a real difference in people’s lives. I’ll keep working with anyone to protect working families and make sure our economy is competitive.”
This all comes after the Michigan Supreme Court last summer ruled that changes sought by a 2018 ballot initiative — which were adopted by the Legislature and then amended before becoming law — would take effect if lawmakers failed to act to amend them.