SENATE BILL NO. 658
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "paid parental leave act".
(a) "Department" means the department of licensing and regulatory affairs.
(b) "Director" means the director of the department or his or her designee.
(c) "Employee" means an individual engaged in service to an employer in the business of the employer, except that employee does not include an individual employed by the United States government.
(d) "Employer" means an individual, person, firm, business, educational institution, nonprofit agency, corporation, limited liability company, government entity, or other entity that employs 50 or more individuals, except that employer does not include the United States government. Employer includes a small employer that enters into an agreement under section 3(7).
(e) "Parental leave" means time off from work that is provided by an employer to an employee for purposes related to the birth of the employee's child or care of the employee's newborn child.
(f) "Retaliatory personnel action" means any of the following:
(i) Denial of any right guaranteed under this act.
(ii) A threat, discharge, suspension, demotion, reduction of hours, or other adverse action against an employee or former employee for exercising a right guaranteed under this act.
(iii) Sanctions against an employee who is a recipient of public benefits for exercise of a right guaranteed under this act.
(iv) Interference with, or punishment for, a person's participation in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this act.
(g) "Small employer" means an individual, person, firm, business, educational institution, nonprofit agency, corporation, limited liability company, government entity, or other entity that employs 49 or fewer individuals.
Sec. 3. (1) An employer shall provide 4 weeks of paid parental leave annually to each of the employer's full-time employees pursuant to this act. An employer shall not require an employee to search for or secure a replacement worker as a condition for using parental leave.
(2) An employee may take parental leave beginning on the effective date of this act or upon commencement of the employee's employment, whichever is later.
(3) An employer shall pay to an employee who uses paid parental leave at a rate equal to the greater of either the normal hourly wage rate for that employee or the minimum hourly wage rate established under section 4 of the improved workforce opportunity wage act, 2018 PA 337, MCL 408.934. For an employee whose hourly wage varies depending on the work performed, "normal hourly wage" means the average hourly wage of the employee in the pay period immediately preceding the pay period in which the employee uses parental leave.
(4) An employer is in compliance with this section if the employer provides any paid leave, or combination of paid leave, that may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions provided in this act for a duration that is equal to or greater than the duration in subsection (1). As used in this subsection, "paid leave" includes, but is not limited to, paid vacation and personal days and paid time off.
(5) An employer may require advance notice, not to exceed 30 days before the date parental leave is to begin, of the intention to use parental leave.
(6) An employer is not required to provide financial or other reimbursement to an employee for parental leave that was not used before the employee's termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from employment.
(7) Two or more small employers may enter into an agreement to provide the paid parental leave required under this section.
Sec. 4. (1) An employer or any other person shall not interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right guaranteed under this act.
(2) An employer shall not take retaliatory personnel action or discriminate against an employee because the employee has exercised a right guaranteed under this act.
(3) An employer's absence control policy must not treat parental leave taken under this act as an absence that may lead to or result in retaliatory personnel action.
(4) The protections in this section apply to a person who mistakenly but in good faith alleges a violation of this section.
(5) There is a rebuttable presumption of a violation of this section if an employer takes retaliatory personnel action against a person within 365 days after that person does any of the following:
(a) Files a complaint with the department or a court alleging a violation of this act.
(b) Informs a person about an employer's alleged violation of this act.
(c) Cooperates with the department or another person in the investigation or prosecution of an alleged violation of this act.
(d) Opposes a policy, practice, or act that is prohibited under this act.
(e) Informs a person of his or her rights under this act.
Sec. 5. If an employer violates this act, an employee affected by the violation may, within 5 years after the date of the violation or the date when the employee first knew of the violation, whichever is later, do any of the following:
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