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Michigan Amends Paid Sick Leave Law and Establishes Effective Date

02/07/19

Author: ADP Admin/Monday, February 4, 2019/Categories: State Compliance Update, Michigan

Michigan Amends Paid Sick Leave Law and Establishes Effective Date Overview: In September 2018, the Michigan legislature adopted as law a proposed ballot measure that would require employers to provide their employees paid leave to be used for “sick” and “safe” time purposes, and for other reasons. The law has been amended. The law, now known as the Paid Medical Leave Act, requires covered employers to provide up to 40 hours of paid medical leave per year to eligible employees.

Effective Date: March 29, 2019

Details:
Covered Employers and Employees
Under the amended law, a covered “employer” is any person, firm, business, educational institution, nonprofit agency, corporation, limited liability company, government entity, or other entity that employs 50 or more individuals. It does not include the United States government, another state, or a political subdivision of another state.

An “eligible employee” is an individual engaged in service to an employer in the business of the employer and from whom an employer must withhold for federal income tax purposes. The amended law includes many exceptions to the definition, including:
  • Exempt personnel;
  • Individuals covered by a collective bargaining agreement not employed by a public agency;
  • Individuals employed by the U.S. government, another state, or a political subdivision of another state;
  • Certain employees subject to the railway labor act and the railway unemployment insurance act;
  • Individuals whose primary work location is not in Michigan;
  • Trainee employees who are less than 20 years of age and employees less than 18 years of age;
  • Temporary services employees;
  • An individual employed by an employer for 25 weeks or fewer in a calendar year for a job scheduled for 25 weeks or fewer;
  • A variable hour employee; or
  • An individual who worked, on average, fewer than 25 hours per week during the immediately preceding calendar year.
Accrual and Use of Leave

The amended law requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with one hour of paid medical leave for every 35 hours worked, up to at least 40 hours per year. Employers do not have to permit employees to use over 40 hours of paid medical leave per year, nor are they required to permit employees to carry over more than 40 hours of unused leave per year. Alternatively, employers may provide at least 40 hours of paid medical leave to an eligible employee at the beginning of a benefit year or prorate such amount for new employees. The amended law presumes that an employer has complied with the law if it provides at least 40 hours of paid leave to an eligible employee each year.

Under the amended law, eligible employees must comply with the employer’s customary notice, procedural, and documentation requirements for requesting leave. Employers may discipline or discharge employees for noncompliance with these customary notice, procedural, and documentation requirements for requesting leave. An employer must give an employee at least three days to provide any necessary documentation.

Prohibitions and Enforcement

The amended law contains no anti-interference, anti-discrimination, or anti-retaliation provisions. An aggrieved employee may file a complaint with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to enforce the law within six months of the alleged violation.

Miscellaneous Provisions

If an eligible employee separates from employment and is rehired by the same employer, the employer does not have to allow the eligible employee to retain any unused paid medical leave that the eligible employee previously accumulated while working for the employer.

Employers must maintain records documenting the hours worked and paid medical leave taken by eligible employees for one year.

For a copy of Senate Bill 1175 please click on the link provided below.
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2017-2018/publicact/pdf/2018-PA-0369.pdf

For more FAQs and a copy of the poster which must be posted effective March 29, 2019, please click on the link below.
https://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-59886_91049---,00.html

Action Required: In anticipation of the new law, Michigan employers should train Human Resources professionals, post the required poster, and revise handbook policies in accordance with the new law. Employers should also ensure that they are prepared to properly calculate, track and detail accrued and used medical leave.

As always, please reach out to your dedicated service professional with questions.

*Produced in partnership with Littler Mendelson P.C.

This content provides practical information concerning the subject matter covered and is provided with the understanding that ADP is not rendering legal advice.

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