Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed bills last week to raise Michigan’s minimum wage and guarantee sick leave for workers.

The hourly rate will rise to $15 in 2027 for everyone except people who earn tips. They will get 38% of the minimum wage in 2025. That will grow to 50% in 2031 and then be capped at that rate. If their combined wages and tips don’t add up to $15/hour, their employers will make up the difference.

More: Michigan House passes minimum wage bill

A companion law guarantees all workers paid sick leave. How much they earn depends on how many hours they work and the size of their employer. Workers at large companies will get 72 hours of paid sick leave. Those who work at small firms will receive 40 hours.

Bipartisan deal comes together at the last minute

Michigan’s divided Legislature worked together to enact the new policies. Senate Democrats and House Republicans compromised to ensure bipartisan support.

Had they not acted by Feb. 21, a Michigan Supreme Court order would have implemented a 2018 ballot petition. That proposal raised the minimum wage for all workers to almost $15/hour, including those who earn tips. It also would have guaranteed everyone the same amount of paid leave.

The Republican-led Legislature adopted the petition but then weakened it in a way justices ruled was illegal.

Rep. Jamie Thompson (R-Brownstown Twp.) voted for the compromise.

“I do support a higher minimum wage,” she said. “It’s very hard to expect that a minimum wage job is going to support a family.”

But Thompson also says those jobs were never meant to support families.

“I feel like they were intended for students or people working toward getting a better job.”

She also says many companies already pay workers more than the minimum wage.

“I know a lot of single moms out there that are raising kids on their own,” she said. “They would never be able to pay their bills and not be homeless if they were just working less than 40 hours a week at a minimum wage job.”

Thompson also says it was important to preserve a lower wage for tipped workers.

“We can get them making a little more hourly money, but they still keep their tips and business owners don’t go under,” she said.

Business groups who opposed the higher minimum wage argued before the vote that it would kill jobs and cause small enterprises to close. Years of economic research don’t support that claim, as shown here, here, and here.

Do new lawmakers relate to workers?

Republican support for raising the minimum wage reflects a policy shift within the party. Rep. Thompson says many newer GOP lawmakers are more sympathetic to working people.

“A lot more everyday citizens have gotten involved in politics because they’ve seen how the legislation is actually affecting their family, their business, their children,” she said. “We understand how hard it is to raise a family.”

Thompson was elected to the state House in 2022 and won a second term in 2024.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation on Friday to preserve Michigan’s lower minimum wage for tipped workers and to modify the law that requires most employers to provide paid sick leave.

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The governor signed the bills just hours after they were sent to her by the Legislature.

In a statement, Whitmer said the new laws are the product of bipartisan compromises that still provide better wages and guaranteed sick leave.

The state minimum wage is now $12.48 — up from $10.56. The minimum wage for tipped workers is $5.09. Employers are expected to make up the difference if salary and tips don’t meet the minimum wage.

Small businesses with fewer than 10 employees must allow workers to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick leave. People who work for larger employers can bank up to 72 hours of sick time a year.

These new laws preempt petition initiatives that would have required more generous wage and sick leave policies. The petition campaigns called the new laws a betrayal of their efforts to use the initiative process to improve minimum wage and sick leave standards.

Groups say they’re looking at options, including legal action, new petition initiative campaigns, or a referendum to challenge the laws on the ballot.

—Reporting by Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

Other headlines for Friday, Feb. 21, 2025:

• Cuts to the U.S. Department of Education could affect Michigan if President Donald Trump shuts down the agency, local education leaders say.
• The 9th annual African American Family Book Expo is taking place from noon to 5 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Ernest T Ford Field House in Highland Park.
• The Henry Ford Museum is presenting a new exhibit this Saturday in honor of Black History Month titled “We Shall Overcome: The 60th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act,” featuring artifacts that explore the rich story of what it took to establish voting rights for African Americans.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.