(Source: MIRS.news, Published July 27, 2022) The Michigan Manufacturers Association (MMA) advised its members Wednesday that after conversations with Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity officials, they've confirmed the state's minimum wage will jump to $12 per hour in light of a recent court decision.
MMA's David Worthams, director of Human Resource Policy, said without a stay of Court of Claims Judge Douglas Shapiro's ruling, the minimum wage also must be adjusted upward by the rate of inflation each year thereafter. Also, one hour of paid time leave for employers must be awarded for every 30 hours worked up to a minimum benefit level of 72 hours each year regardless of the size of the employer.
"Judge Shapiro's decision to declare the acts unconstitutional severely damages Michigan's business climate," Worthams wrote in a letter to the MMA Employment and Workforce Policy Committee members.
Attorneys for the state have asked to put Shapiro's ruling on hold as they appeal the decision to the Michigan Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs' reply is due Thursday.
In 2018, Michigan One Fair Wage circulated petitions to raise the state's minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2022 and tied it to the rate of inflation and MI Time to Care's petition required employers to allow for accrued paid sick time for employees.
The Legislature adopted both – Public Acts 337 and 388 – and then after the election that year, amended both, weakening the petitions' initial intent.
Shapiro ruled the Legislature's adopt-and-amend tactic thwarted the power of the people to initiate and then vote on laws. As a result, the amendments, Public Acts 368 and 369, were voided and PA 337 and PA 388 would "remain in effect."
MMA, which joined other statewide associations in writing an amicus brief for the Supreme Court, which declined to review the matter, is beginning conversations with other business groups to "craft a strategy to find a solution that counters the pall this casts over Michigan's economy," Worthams' letter reads.
MMA also is continuing discussions with the Department of Labor and Economic Development as it shares information on how it will administer the policy impacts of Shapiro's ruling.
The case, Mothering Justice et al v. Dana Nessel, is likely to make it to the Michigan Supreme Court.
