Here is an update on the looming Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA) and pending legislation to amend ESTA in the Michigan Legislature.
As you know, the ESTA is set to take effect on Thursday, February 21st that would require:
- Employers of ANY size to offer 72 hours annually of paid sick leave to all employees
- The leave time to be accrued and not be “front-loaded”
- Be separate of current PTO policies
- The ability for 3 days of “no-call, no-show” for employees without retribution from the employer
- A rebuttal presumption against employers
- The ability for a “private right of action” against employers
The House of Representatives introduced House Bill 4002 earlier this year to make changes to the act in including:
- Exemptions for seasonal and part-time employees
- Exempting employers of 50 employees or less
- Allowing earned sick time to be combined with other PTO benefits
- Limiting the carryover to 72 hours annually
- Allowing employers to front load leave time as opposed to having to calculate all of the hours worked in accumulating paid sick time
- Removing the 3 day “no-call, no-show” provision is ESTA. The soon to be adopted law would allow employees to take three consecutive days off without documentation and not be disciplined by the employer
- Eliminating the rebuttal presumption against employers
- Eliminating the private right of action against employers
This legislation passed the Michigan House of Representatives in early February on a 67-38 bi-partisan vote.
The Michigan Senate also introduced legislation this year (Senate Bill 15) to make changes to the ESTA. The legislation would:
- Create a small business definition allowing employers with 25 employees or less to only have to offer 40 hours of paid sick time while employers with more than 25 employees would be required to offer the 72 hours of paid leave
- Remove the private right of action
- Allow for front loading of leave time
- Shorten, from three years to one year, the time frame that an employee may seek remedies for a violation of the Act
The Michigan Senate passed a substituted version of Senate Bill 15 out of committee this week while the sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Sam Singh, has indicated that he would like additional changes to his bill including removing the 3 day “no-call, no show “ provision and exempting seasonal workers.
Most recently, the Speaker of the House, Rep. Matt Hall, has offered compromises on the bill while the Michigan Senate is struggling to get the votes to pass any plan. There’s a handful of Senate Democrats that won’t support any bills to change ESTA at this point and the Senate Republicans much prefer House Bill 4002 over Senate Bill 15 and are unwilling to put up any “yes” votes. Governor Whitmer has asked that if a compromise cannot be reached soon between the House and Senate that a bill to extend the implementation of ESTA to July 1st be passed to allow negotiations to continue.
NAEDA believes this will come down to the wire next week. We will keep you updated with any changes over the next seven days and what dealers obligations are under any bill that passes.
