icon on On January 23, 2025, the Michigan House voted to send House Bill 4002 (earned sick time, which passed 67-38) to the Michigan Senate for consideration. The House bill includes several key changes to the ESTA, such as allowing the frontloading of the 72 hours of earned sick time and defining small businesses as those with fewer than 50 employees.
What's next: The fate of these issues now rests in the Senate's hands.
- The Senate can consider the bills as written or amend them. The Senate can also consider its own versions of the bill, such as Senate Bill 15 (ESTA).
- It remains possible, but not guaranteed, that lawmakers could push the effective date of these laws out past the current Feb. 21, 2025, effective date.
Since action by the Senate is not guaranteed and the effective date of ESTA is now less than 30 days out, employers should review their current policies and prepare for ESTA to take effect as written on Feb. 21, 2025, but continue to monitor whether the statutory changes are agreed upon and enacted.
To read about the ESTA in full, follow this link: https://bit.ly/49Igx3W.
For more information on Michigan's ESTA updates, please contact Brian Kreucher of Howard & Howard Attorneys.