New Minimum Wage & Paid Medical Leave Laws in Michigan

There’s a lot happening in the State of Michigan, but a January 1, 2019 minimum wage increase is not among the changes. However, employers should be aware that a new Minimum Wage law goes into effect on March 29, 2019. Until then, Michigan employers must continue to pay their employees the current minimum wage of $9.25 per hour.

And that’s not all! Effective April 1, 2019, Michigan employers must abide by the state’s new Paid Medical Leave law.  

History of the Minimum Wage & Paid Medical Leave Laws

The new laws originally started as more generous minimum wage and paid sick leave initiatives that were supposed to be put before voters in November 2018.

To prevent them from appearing on the November ballot, the Michigan legislature adopted the minimum wage and paid sick leave initiatives in September 2018. Next, the legislature passed amended, scaled-down versions of both laws, which were signed by former Governor Rick Snyder on December 13, 2018.

Minimum Wage

Under the original ballot initiative, Michigan’s minimum wage rate would have increased yearly until it reached $12.00 per hour by 2020, and then been adjusted for inflation each year thereafter.

The new Minimum Wage law calls for smaller increases over a much longer period of time. The first increase to $9.45 will take effect on March 29, 2019. The wage rates for the next three years are as follows: to $9.65 in 2020, to $9.87 in 2021, and to $10.10 in 2022. Annual increases are scheduled to continue until the wage reaches $12.05 in 2030.

Paid Medical Leave

Under Michigan’s original paid sick leave ballot initiative, employees of small employers (9 or fewer employees) would have been able to accrue and use up to 40 hours of paid leave in a year. Employees of large employers (10 or more employees) would have been able to accrue and use a maximum of 72 hours per year.

In contrast, the amended and newly titled Paid Medical Leave (PML) law only applies to employers of 50 or more employees. Under the law, non-exempt employees may accrue 1 hour of PML for every 35 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year. In addition, employees may use a total of 40 hours of PML in a year, or they may carry over a maximum of 40 unused hours to the following year.

Next Steps

Our Research Department is watching closely for the state to release the updated Minimum Wage notice, as well as the new Paid Medical Leave notice. As soon as they are available, our customers will be notified, and our Michigan State Poster will be updated.

In the meantime, we encourage you to order our 1-Year Compliance Plan, so that you will automatically receive the updated Michigan poster as soon as it is available. And because we provide free poster updates for mandatory changes, no matter how many occur during the 12-month period, you can always count on Poster Compliance Center to keep your business in compliance!