NFIB Leads Business Groups at Senate Committee Hearing
THE ARTICLE BELOW HAS BEEN UPDATED ON 12-04-2018 DUE TO RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:
Breaking News: House and Senate Pass Paid Sick Leave, Minimum Wage Changes to Ballot Proposal
On Tuesday evening, December 4th, the state House and Senate passed changes to the extreme Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave mandates that were forced on Michigan job providers and workers by out of state interests.
After urging lawmakers to adopt the Paid Sick Leave proposal this September, to keep it off the statewide ballot, NFIB has been working to make changes to these awful laws.
Upon passage of the NFIB supported Senate versions of paid sick leave and minimum wage bills in the House Competitiveness Committee this morning, the Governor came to the table requesting further amendments. NFIB and other business groups have been working diligently today to come to agreement on changes to assure that the Governor will sign the final bills. Below is a summary of the substantive changes that were agreed upon and will be included in the final bills passed by the Senate and House.
Paid Sick Leave
Small Business Exemption: The small business exemption of less than 50 employees remains untouched. Number of Accrued Hours of Paid Sick Leave: The original ballot proposal was 72 hours, the changes we proposed reduced this to 36 hours. The compromise with the Governor is 40 hours.
Accrual Rate: The original ballot proposal required 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. The changes we proposed were 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. The compromise with the Governor is 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 35 hours worked. Accrual begins immediately and can be used after 90 days. The limitation remains that an individual can only earn up to 1 hour of sick time per week regardless of the number of hours worked.
Eligibility Threshold: We tried to go for the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) standard under which an employee would be eligible after one year and the employee would have to work 1250 hours within that year. We ended up with eligibility at 90 days after commencement of employment but in exchange we also were able to exempt exempt seasonal workers, part time workers, and variable hour workers.
Documentation: The employer must give an eligible employee at least three days to provide the employer with valid medical excuse documentation if the employer chooses to require it.
Minimum Wage
The governor requested to amend the max minimum wage amount to $12.05 rather than the proposed $12.00
On the tip wage, it will go to 38% of minimum wage. The original proposal to eliminate the tip credit has been removed.
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Lansing, November 28, 2018 – The state’s leading small business organization, NFIB, joined with other business groups early this morning testifying before the Senate Government Operations Committee in support of changes to the Paid Sick Leave mandate proposal that was adopted by the legislature in September.
“After urging lawmakers to adopt the Paid Sick Leave proposal this September, to keep it off the statewide ballot, we have been working to make changes to this awful law,” said Charlie Owens, State Director for NFIB in Michigan. “We applaud the state Senate for moving forward with major changes to the extreme and poorly drafted sick leave proposal forced on employers by outside special interest groups.”
The changes to the Paid Sick Leave law were included in Senate Bill 1175, sponsored by Senator Mike Shirkey. The changes include:
- Exempt employers of under 50 employees
- Only employees who have worked at least one year and 1250 hours for the same employer over the past 12 months are eligible
- Exempt temps, employees who work in other states, independent contractors, flight deck or crew members, railroad workers and highly-paid salaried employees
- Exempt private sector businesses and employees who have a collective bargaining agreement
- Recognize the compliance of businesses that already provide the requisite hours of paid leave
- Allow employers the flexibility of front loading paid medical leave for the year
- Limit the maximum amount of paid medical leave per year to 36 hours
- Establish the accrual of paid sick leave as 1 hour for every 40 hours worked
- Eliminate litigious provisions that will plaque job-providers with unfair lawsuits and regulatory actions
Owens said that NFIB had supported adoption of the Paid Sick Leave proposal back in September to keep it off the November state-wide ballot. “If these proposals went to the ballot, and they succeeded in passing, a three-fourths super-majority of both legislative chambers would be required to make any changes to the law”, said Owens. “This is an impossible requirement to meet and Michigan would have been stuck with the most stringent paid sick leave and minimum wage employer mandate in the country”.
The bill was reported out of Committee and is expected to go all the way to Senate passage today.
Owens said that NFIB’s goal will be to push for House passage of the bill next week.
Video of the committee hearing can be viewed HERE.
