Advocacy News – June 5, 2024
What happened: The Michigan Supreme Court (MSC) on Friday rejected a request by Raise the Wage Michigan to overrule the Board of State Canvasser’s (BSC) refusal to certify its petition to boost the minimum wage from its current $10.33/hour to $15/hour by 2027 — including for tipped employees.
At issue was an error in the petitions. When the BSC first approved the language, proponents proposed lowering the threshold for making an employer subject to the minimum wage from two employees to one. The wording in the circulated petitions, however, changed that language to apply to employers with 21 or fewer workers — meaning it would have eliminated the minimum wage protections for employers with fewer than 21 workers instead of raising the minimum wage for all employees.
What’s next: This decision is good news for businesses paying below the suggested minimum wage — and especially businesses relying on tipped employees who would have seen a 385% increase in their labor costs if this proposal were to have been approved by voters. However, significant questions remain as to how the MSC will rule in the “Adopt-and-Amend” ruling pending at the MSC dealing with the fate Michigan’s current minimum wage and paid sick leave laws. Read the latest on that case.