Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

The Michigan Senate will continue hearings this week on possible amendments to the new laws on tipped wages and paid leave scheduled to go into effect February 21.

That's when the state's minimum wage is set to rise to $12.48 an hour, with tipped wages scheduled to be gradually phased out.

That same day, employees in Michigan will earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Businesses with 10 or more employees will have to allow workers to use up to 72 hours of paid sick leave if accrued.

Businesses with fewer than 10 employees will have to allow workers to use up to 40 hours of paid sick leave if accrued, and up to 32 hours of unpaid sick leave.

"Impractical, overreaching and devastating. Those are just some of the words that employers from Grand Rapids and across the state have used to describe the Earned Sick Time Act. One business owner said it plainly, 'this will drive businesses out of Michigan,'" said David Robb, co-owner and managing partner of Express Employment Professionals.

Robb was among several who testified before a state Senate committee last week.

"One employer explained unplanned absences make it nearly impossible to meet deadlines or maintain quality standards. Everyone else suffers when the system is abused," he said.

"Another shared, and this is a really common theme we've heard, is that ESTA potentially could remove the ability for an employer to really have an attendance policy the way it is currently written."

The changes are brought on by a 2024 Michigan Supreme Court ruling that found the then-Republican controlled state Legislature, acted unconstitutionally in 2018 when it adopted a pair of voter initiatives on minimum wage and paid sick leave and then later amended them in the same legislative session.

Sen. Roger Hauck, R-Mt. Pleasant, tried unsuccessfully to get a vote on the House version passed last month. Instead, another hearing was scheduled Wednesday.

"We're on a tight timeline here and it is critical that it be addressed. I encourage people to reach out to my Senate counterparts to make sure they get some action on this, to resolve the situation," state Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, told WHMI News.

"I held some roundtables in my district and it was the top of the minds of people that attended."

Bollin, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, remains skeptical whether anything coming out the Senate will provide the "fix" many employers are looking for.

"I don't think that those bills are going to address the dire situation the law presents. We'll see what happens over in the Senate."

Watch last week's Senate Committee on Regulatory Affairs linked below.

Photo courtesy of Michigan News Connection.