NFIB Speaks Out on Mandated Paid Leave Proposal

NFIB/Michigan State Director Charlie Owens provided the small business perspective during a televised town hall meeting about mandated paid leave and the efforts by advocates to put the issue on the state ballot in 2018. The town hall was held at NBC25/FOX66 in Flint, MI and rebroadcast over their website. The program is archived and can be viewed HERE. The video is near the bottom of the page on the website.

 

Labor unions and progressive front groups have been conducting a petition drive to put a mandated paid leave proposal on the Michigan statewide ballot in 2018. Legislation with the same language has been introduced in the state House and Senate.

 

Under both proposals, employees (including part-time, full-time and temporary workers) working for businesses with 10 or more employees would accrue a minimum of one hour of “earned sick time” (paid sick leave) for every 30 hours worked.  Employees would be entitled to use 72 hours of leave in a year. For businesses with less than 10 employees, workers would also accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, however, they would only be allowed to use 40 hours of paid leave in a year, after which they would then be entitled to use an additional 32 hours of unpaid earned sick time. Employees would be required to use paid leave prior to using unpaid leave.

 

If paid leave advocates are successful in getting this proposal passed on the ballot in the 2018 November elections, Michigan would have one of the most stringent paid sick leave employer mandates in the country. The proposal is also more generous than similar legislation being considered in Congress.

 

NFIB will continue to fight against this proposal and be certain that the small business side of the story is told in the media and to lawmakers and others trying to push similar proposals.