Earlier this year, I warned about a pending Michigan Supreme Court decision that would upend minimum wage and paid sick leave laws in our state. The decision has arrived and it is not good for Michigan employers, workers, or customers.
The court decision, Mothering Justice v. Attorney General, struck down minimum wage and paid sick leave statutes that were enacted in 2018. This statute was “amended” from citizen-initiated ballot proposal that was “adopted” months earlier. The court ruled it unconstitutional to “adopt and amend” such initiatives within the same legislative term.
While I disagree that such a prohibition exists in our state constitution, the court’s decision is final. The only solution going forward is through new legislation. I recently introduced bills to maintain the minimum wage and paid sick leave laws we had in place prior to the court’s ruling, which were workable.
Republicans are ready and willing to get a fix to the finish line. The question now is if Lansing Democrats can look past their liberal progressive talking points, realize the damage these court-ordered changes would cause in real life, and help reach a solution.
The new laws are set to begin taking effect in February — a relatively few months away. Exact minimum wage numbers are yet to be set by the Department of Treasury, but the immediate increase is projected to set the minimum wage at about $12.50 per hour — rising to roughly $15 an hour within three years. From there, the minimum wage will be indexed to inflation.
Arguably, the most damaging part of these mandates is the phased elimination of the “tipped wage” credit. This change will have devastating effects on the restaurant industry, which has already suffered greatly from COVID-related government restrictions and high inflation. The tipped wage change will very likely result in restaurant closures, lost wages for employees, and higher prices for customers. Rarely does a policy change result in everyone losing, but the progressive left managed to pull it off in this case.
The changes to the paid sick leave law are more complicated, but overall, it is clear that small businesses will face the greatest headwinds. The law, which was struck down, exempted employers with less than 50 employees. This small business exemption was modeled after “Obamacare” and was a commonsense provision. Many small businesses simply cannot afford these mandates and will be faced with cost-cutting measures, job reductions, passing along higher costs to customers, or closing up shop completely. All of these options result in less economic growth and fewer opportunities for Michiganders.
Another unworkable aspect of the paid sick leave law is that it enables employees to “no call, no show” for two consecutive workdays. It is not unjust for an employer to expect employees to show up to work on a predictable timeline or at least to receive notification if that isn’t going to happen. Enabling employees to skip work without notice negatively impacts coworkers, customers, and the ability of the employer to continue operations — particularly small businesses that don’t have staffing flexibility. Job providers need to be able to have fair standards in place, and this provision creates an unworkable jobsite atmosphere.
Overall, it is fair to say the worst-case scenario has occurred, but the good news is that there is time to act. The proposal I have introduced — Senate Bills 991 and 992 — would keep the workable laws we had on the books. I hope Lansing Democrats are able to come together with Republicans on this issue. No worker is going to benefit from mandated progressive policies if they lose their job as a result.
State Sen. Thomas Albert represents the 18th District, which includes Barry County and portions of Allegan, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, Kent, and Ionia counties.