SENATE BILL NO. 15
January 08, 2025, Introduced by Senator SINGH and referred to Committee on Regulatory Affairs.
A bill to amend 2018 PA 338, entitled
"Earned sick time act,"
by amending sections 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 (MCL 408.962, 408.963,
408.964, 408.966, and 408.967).
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 2. As used in this act:
2 (a) "Department" means the department of licensing labor and
3 regulatory affairs.economic opportunity.
4 (b) "Director" means the director of the department of
5 licensing and regulatory affairs or his or her the director's
6 designee.
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1 (c) "Domestic partner" means an adult in a committed
2 relationship with another adult, including both same-sex and
3 different-sex relationships. "Committed relationship" As used in
4 this subdivision, "committed relationship" means one a relationship
5 in which the employee and another individual share responsibility
6 for a significant measure of each other's common welfare, such as
7 any relationship between individuals of the same or different sex
8 that is granted legal recognition by a state, political
9 subdivision, or the District of Columbia as a marriage or analogous
10 relationship, including, but not limited to, a civil union.
11 (d) "Domestic violence" has the same meaning means that term
12 as provided defined in section 1 of 1978 PA 389, MCL 400.1501.
13 (e) "Earned sick time" means time off from work that is
14 provided by an employer to an employee, whether paid or unpaid,
15 that can be used for the purposes described in subsection (1) of
16 section 4 of this act.section 4(1).
17 (f) "Employee" means an individual engaged in service to an
18 employer in the business of the employer, except that employee does
19 not include an individual employed by the United States government.
20 (g) "Employer" means any person, firm, business, educational
21 institution, nonprofit agency, corporation, limited liability
22 company, government entity, or other entity that employs 1 or more
23 individuals, except that employer does not include the United
24 States government.
25 (h) "Family member" includes all of the following:
26 (i) (i) A biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild or
27 legal ward, a child of a domestic partner, or a child to whom the
28 employee stands in loco parentis.
29 (ii) (ii) A biological parent, foster parent, stepparent, or
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1 adoptive parent or a legal guardian of an employee or an employee's
2 spouse or domestic partner or a person an individual who stood in
3 loco parentis when the employee was a minor child.
4 (iii) (iii) A person An individual to whom the employee is
5 legally married under the laws of any state or a domestic partner.
6 (iv) (iv) A grandparent.
7 (v) (v) A grandchild.
8 (vi) (vi) A biological, foster, or adopted sibling.
9 (vii) (vii) Any other An individual related by blood or
10 affinity to the employee.
11 (viii) An individual whose close association with the employee
12 is the equivalent of a family relationship.
13 (i) "Health care professional" means any of the following:
14 (i) (i) Any person licensed under federal law or the law of
15 this state to provide health care services, including, but not
16 limited to, nurses, doctors, and emergency room personnel.
17 (ii) (ii) A certified midwife.
18 (j) "Retaliatory personnel action" means any of the following:
19 (i) (i) Denial of any right guaranteed under this act.
20 (ii) (ii) A threat, discharge, suspension, demotion, reduction
21 of hours, or other adverse action against an employee or former
22 employee for exercise of a right guaranteed under this act.
23 (iii) (iii) Sanctions against an employee who is a recipient of
24 public benefits for exercise of a right guaranteed under this act.
25 (iv) (iv) Interference with, or punishment for, an individual's
26 participation in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or
27 hearing under this act.
28 (k) "Sexual assault" means any act that constitutes a
29 violation of violates section 520b, 520c, 520d, 520e, 520f, or 520g
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1 of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.520b, 750.520c,
2 750.520d, 750.520e, 750.520f, and 750.520g.
3 (l) (l) "Small business" means an employer for which fewer than
4 10 25 individuals work for compensation during a given week. In
5 determining the number of individuals performing work for
6 compensation during a given week, all individuals performing work
7 for compensation on a full-time, part-time, or temporary basis
8 shall must be counted, including individuals made available to work
9 through the services of a temporary services or staffing agency or
10 similar entity. An employer is not a small business if it
11 maintained 10 25 or more employees on its payroll during any 20 or
12 more calendar workweeks in either the current or the immediately
13 preceding calendar year.
14 Sec. 3. (1) Each An employer shall provide earned sick time to
15 each of the employer's employees in this state.
16 (2) (a) Employees Except as otherwise provided in this
17 subsection, an employee of a small business shall must accrue a
18 minimum of one 1 hour of earned sick time for every 30 hours worked
19 but shall may not be entitled to use more than 40 hours of paid
20 earned sick time in a year unless the employer selects a higher
21 limit. If an employee of a small business accrues more than 40
22 hours of earned sick time in a calendar year, the employee shall be
23 entitled to may use an additional 32 hours of unpaid earned sick
24 time in that year, unless the employer selects a higher limit.
25 Employees of a small business must be entitled to may use paid
26 earned sick time before using unpaid earned sick time. As an
27 alternative to the accrual of earned sick time, a small business
28 may provide an employee not less than 40 hours of paid earned sick
29 time and not less than 30 hours of unpaid earned sick time at the
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1 beginning of a year.
2 (3) (b) All Except as otherwise provided in this subsection,
3 all other employees shall must accrue a minimum of one 1 hour of
4 paid earned sick time for every 30 hours worked but shall may not
5 be entitled to use more than 72 hours of paid earned sick time per
6 in a year, unless the employer selects a higher limit. As an
7 alternative to the accrual of earned sick time, an employer may
8 provide an employee not less than 72 hours of paid earned sick time
9 at the beginning of a year.
10 (4) (c) Earned Subject to the requirements of this subsection,
11 earned sick time shall carry carries over from year to year, but a
12 small business is not required to permit allow an employee to use
13 more than 40 hours of paid earned sick time and 32 hours of unpaid
14 earned sick time in a single year, and all other employers are not
15 required to permit allow an employee to use more than 72 hours of
16 paid earned sick time in a single year. The amount of accrued
17 earned sick time an employee may carry over from year to year is
18 subject to the following limits:
19 (a) If the employee's employer pays the employee the value of
20 the employee's unused earned sick time before the end of a year,
21 not more than 144 hours.
22 (b) If the employee's employer does not pay the employee the
23 value of the employee's unused earned sick time, 288 hours.
24 (5) (2) Earned sick time as provided in this section shall
25 begin begins to accrue on the effective date of this law, act, or
26 upon commencement of the employee's employment, whichever is later.
27 An employee may use accrued earned sick time as it is accrued,
28 except that an employer may require an employee hired after April
29 1, 2019, the effective date of the 2025 amendatory act that amended
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1 this section to wait until the ninetieth calendar day after
2 commencing employment before using accrued earned sick time.
3 (3) For purposes of subsection (1), "year" shall mean a
4 regular and consecutive twelve-month period, as determined by an
5 employer.
6 (4) For purposes of earned sick time accrual under this act,
7 an employee who is exempt from overtime requirements under section
8 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USC 213(a)(1), is
9 assumed to work 40 hours in each workweek unless the employee's
10 normal work week is less than 40 hours, in which case earned sick
11 time accrues based upon that normal workweek.
12 (6) (5) An employer other than a small business is in
13 compliance with this section if the employer provides any paid
14 leave time off in at least the same amounts amount as that provided
15 under this act that may be used for the same purposes and under the
16 same conditions provided in under this act and that is accrued at a
17 rate equal to or greater than the rate described in subsections (1)
18 and (2). subsection (3). An employer that is a small business is in
19 compliance with this section if the employer provides paid leave
20 time off in at least the same amounts amount as that provided under
21 this act that may be used for the same purposes and under the same
22 conditions provided in under this act and that is accrued at a rate
23 equal to or greater than the rate described in subsections (1) and
24 subsection (2). provided further that that employees of the small
25 business are entitled to use paid earned sick time before using
26 unpaid earned sick time. For purposes of this subsection, "paid
27 leave" includes but is not limited to paid vacation days, personal
28 days, and paid time off.
29 (7) (6) An employer shall pay each employee using paid earned
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1 sick time at a pay rate equal to the greater of either the normal
2 hourly wage for that employee or the minimum wage established under
3 the improved workforce opportunity wage act, 2014 PA 138, MCL
4 408.411 to 408.424, 2018 PA 337, MCL 408.931 to 408.945, but not
5 less than the minimum wage rate established in section 4 of the
6 improved workforce opportunity wage act, 2014 PA 138, MCL 408.414.
7 2018 PA 337, MCL 408.934. For any employee whose hourly wage varies
8 depending on the work performed, the "normal hourly wage" means the
9 average hourly wage of the employee in the pay period immediately
10 prior to the pay period in which the employee used paid earned sick
11 time.
12 (8) (7) An employer shall not require an employee to search
13 for or secure a replacement worker as a condition for using earned
14 sick time.
15 (9) For purposes of subsections (2), (3), and (4), "year"
16 means a regular and consecutive 12-month period, as determined by
17 an employer.
18 (10) For purposes of earned sick time accrual under this act,
19 all of the following apply:
20 (a) An employee who is exempt from overtime requirements under
21 section 13(a)(1) of the fair labor standards act, 29 USC 213, is
22 assumed to work 40 hours in each workweek unless the employee's
23 normal workweek is less than 40 hours, in which case earned sick
24 time accrues based on that normal workweek.
25 (b) An employee who is covered under 29 CFR 825.801 is assumed
26 to have worked not less than 40 hours in each workweek or is
27 assumed to have worked not less 30 hours if employed by a small
28 business.
29 Sec. 4. (1) An employer shall permit allow an employee to use
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1 the earned sick time accrued or provided under section 3 for any of
2 the following:
3 (a) The employee's mental or physical illness, injury, or
4 health condition; medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of the
5 employee's mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition;
6 or preventative medical care for the employee.
7 (b) For the employee's family member's mental or physical
8 illness, injury, or health condition, ; medical diagnosis, care, or
9 treatment of the employee's family member's mental or physical
10 illness, injury, or health condition ; or preventative medical care
11 for a family member of the employee.
12 (c) If the employee or the employee's family member is a
13 victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, for medical care or
14 psychological or other counseling for physical or psychological
15 injury or disability, ; to obtain services from a victim services
16 organization, ; to relocate due to domestic violence or sexual
17 assault, ; to obtain legal services, ; or to participate in any
18 civil or criminal proceedings related to or resulting from the
19 domestic violence or sexual assault.
20 (d) For meetings at a child's school or place of care related
21 to the child's health or disability, or the effects of domestic
22 violence or sexual assault on the child. ; or
23 (e) For closure of the employee's place of business by order
24 of a public official due to a public health emergency, ; for an
25 employee's need to care for a child whose school or place of care
26 has been closed by order of a public official due to a public
27 health emergency, ; or when it has been determined by the health
28 authorities having jurisdiction or by a health care provider that
29 the employee's or employee's family member's presence in the
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1 community would jeopardize the health of others because of the
2 employee's or family member's exposure to a communicable disease,
3 whether or not the employee or family member has actually
4 contracted the communicable disease.
5 (2) If the employee's need to use earned sick time is
6 foreseeable, an employer may require advance notice, not to exceed
7 7 days prior to before the date the earned sick time is to begin,
8 of the intention to use the earned sick time. If the employee's
9 need for the earned sick time is not foreseeable, an employer,
10 other than an employer that has mandated staffing ratios, may
11 require the employee to give notice of the intention as soon as
12 practicable. An employer that has mandated staffing ratios may
13 require an employee to comply with the employer's leave policy if
14 the employee's need for the earned sick time is not foreseeable.
15 (3) Earned sick time may must be used in the smaller of hourly
16 1-hour increments. or the smallest increment that the employer's
17 payroll system uses to account for absences of use of other time.
18 (4) For earned sick time of more than 3 consecutive days, an
19 employer may require reasonable documentation that the earned sick
20 time has been used for a purpose described in subsection (1). Upon
21 the employer's request, the employee must provide the documentation
22 to the employer in a timely manner. The employer shall not delay
23 the commencement of earned sick time on the basis that the employer
24 has not yet received documentation. Documentation signed by a
25 health care professional indicating that earned sick time is
26 necessary is reasonable documentation for purposes of this
27 subsection. In cases of domestic violence or sexual assault, one
28 any of the following types of documentation selected by the
29 employee shall be are considered reasonable documentation:
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1 (a) a A police report indicating that the employee or the
2 employee's family member was a victim of domestic violence or
3 sexual assault. ;
4 (b) a A signed statement from a victim and witness advocate
5 affirming that the employee or employee's family member is
6 receiving services from a victim services organization. ; or
7 (c) a A court document indicating that the employee or
8 employee's family member is involved in legal action related to
9 domestic violence or sexual assault.
10 (5) An employer shall not require that the documentation
11 explain the nature of the illness or the details of the violence.
12 If an employer chooses to require documentation for earned sick
13 time, the employer is responsible for paying all out-of-pocket
14 expenses the employee incurs in obtaining the documentation. If the
15 employee does have health insurance, the employer is responsible
16 for paying any costs charged to the employee by the health care
17 provider for providing the specific documentation required by the
18 employer.
19 (6) (5) An employer shall not require disclosure of details
20 relating to domestic violence or sexual assault or the details of
21 an employee's or an employee's family member's medical condition as
22 a condition of providing earned sick time under t