UPDATE: Court Stays Enforcement of Revived Earned Sick Time Act and Minimum Wage Hike

Following last month’s decision from the Michigan Court of Claims effectively reinstating Michigan’s Earned Sick Time Act and Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act in their pre-amendment, ballot initiative form, the state defendant immediately filed a claim for appeal and moved to stay enforcement of the decision. On July 29, 2022, the Court granted a temporary stay of the ruling for 205 days– until February 19, 2023, rejecting the defendant’s request for a stay pending the outcome of the appeal. Judge Shapiro said that any further stays would have to be granted by the Michigan Court of Appeals or Michigan Supreme Court. Without this stay of enforcement, the pre-amendment versions of the two ballot initiatives that were adopted and then amended in 2018 could have gone into effect as early as next Tuesday, August 9, 2022.

With the ruling on ice at least until February, Michigan employers may breathe a sigh of relief, if only temporarily. If (or when) the original ballot proposals become the law, they will significantly alter the wage and benefit landscape for virtually all employers in Michigan with the greatest impact felt by the hospitality industry. To read about these changes, view our recent alert “Back to the Future: Michigan Court Revives Paid Sick Leave Requirements and Minimum Wage Hike.”

For now, however, the Michigan Paid Medical Leave Act (PMLA) and the amended Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act remain the law.

The Rhoades McKee Human Resource and Employment Law Team are keeping an eye on these developments and will issue updates as information becomes available. Rhoades McKee attorneys are available to assist employers with these and other issues.