Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Michigan House has passed a bill to keep the tipped minimum wage before new laws go into effect Friday.

The Republican-led House signed off Wednesday on the Democratic-controlled Senate’s compromise over tipped wages.

Local Republican State Representative Mike Mueller of Linden voted to support the bi-partisan legislation that he says protects the livelihoods of servers, bartenders, and other tipped workers by preserving the tip credit while ensuring fair and reasonable wage increases.

Mueller said “While this isn’t the perfect solution, it is a big win for Michigan’s tipped workers, who fought hard to protect their livelihoods. They deserve the right to keep their tips while still seeing a fair wage increase, and this compromise is the best possible scenario with our current divided government. Now, the Senate must do the right thing and work with us on a balanced solution for sick time policies.”

Senate Bill 8 maintains the tip credit at 38% through 2025 while implementing annual increases, eventually capping at 50% of the minimum wage in 2031. The plan also heightens the penalties for employers who fail to fairly compensate their staff.

SB 8, which now heads to the governor’s desk, is legislatively tied to a bill to address the paid sick time issue, meaning both would have to be signed into law for either to take effect.

Sick-time negotiations between House and Senate leadership are still ongoing.