LANSING — Two bills intervening in the upcoming Michigan tipped wage and sick time changes advanced nearly unanimously Thursday, boding well for potential support among Democrats in the state Senate.
Business owners and employees testified on the proposals in a House committee this week.
“Small business owners like myself cannot afford the luxury of keeping extra people on staff in case employees call in,” said Bill Golden of Golden Shoes in Traverse City. “Employees who do choose to show up now have to spread themselves, then cover for those who don’t even need to give a reason or notice before they do not show up.”
The sick time proposal still requires large businesses to provide at least 72 hours of paid sick time a year, but adds exemptions for small businesses.
“We don’t have a human resources department in our small farm to to handle this, and especially when we’re bringing in seasonal workers for the critical harvest windows of our apples and sweet cherries, it would be a boondoggle for us,” said Adam Dietrich, a farmer and president of the Ottawa County Farm Bureau.
The sick time proposal includes exemptions for employees who work less than 25 weeks a year or less than 25 hours a week, and for all businesses with less than 50 workers.
The proposal maintains several provisions from the original law — employees would still be allowed to take sick time to care for a family member and to carry over 72 hours of sick time from year to year.
It also still allows for sick time to be taken in instances of sexual assault or for mental health reasons and for employers to require ‘usual and customary notice’ of sick time, as long as that information is provided to employees upon hiring.
The wage proposal advanced by lawmakers is more straightforward — it would maintain the tipped wage at 38% of the minimum wage and delay the $15 minimum wage phase-in through 2028. The minimum wage would still increase to $12 an hour on February 21st.
The proposal also lowers the wage for employees under 18 to 75% of the minimum wage, down from the current 85% — but coupled with the minimum wage increase, the change represents a slight increase for minors.
“Kids out of high school and in middle school, coming to work, for these businesses — that’s kind of where I want to address that,” said Rep. Parker Fairbairn, (R) 107th District. “But that’s our ag industry in Northern Michigan, tourism and hospitality. That’s northern Michigan in a nutshell.”
Republicans say they’ll likely bring the proposals before the full House next week, and that they may be open to negotiations on some aspects of the plans.