See what Michigan laws take effect this year: Paid sick days, wage hikes, more
- New minimum wage, paid sick time policies take effect Feb. 21
- House Republicans, Senate Democrats are proposing adjustments to appease business groups, tipped workers wary of changes
- Other new Michigan laws require grocers to sell cage-free eggs, will expand unemployment benefits and more
Minimum wage increases and mandatory paid sick time requirements for nearly all Michigan workers are coming next month following a 2024 Michigan court ruling.
They’re among a handful of new laws that have or will take effect in 2025, including a new cage-free mandate for egg sales, expanded unemployment benefits, organ donor tax credits and more.
But Republican lawmakers, who officially regained majority control of the state House Wednesday, haven’t given up on making changes to the wage and sick leave rules they say could spell doom for Michigan businesses.
“We still have time to fix this,” state Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, said Wednesday after introducing new bills to amend the laws before they take effect. “The governor and Senate Majority Leader need to get on board so we can save these folks' livelihoods before it’s too late.”
The House bills would retain a lower minimum wage for tipped workers that will otherwise be phased out, among other things. A new plan from Senate Democrats, meanwhile, would raise that tipped rate but not eliminate it. Both proposals aim to ease sick leave rules for small businesses.
5 new Michigan laws for 2025
Michigan will have a host of new laws in 2025, including some ordered by the courts, one adopted back in 2019 and others signed last year by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Here are the most notable.
Paid sick time: Requires businesses with more than 10 employees to offer up to 72 hours of paid sick leave. Smaller firms can provide a minimum of 40 hours paid and 32 hours unpaid sick leave. Employees would accrue an hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, and unused time can carry over from year to year. Takes effect: Feb. 21, 2025
Minimum wage increases: Increases Michigan's minimum wage to $12.48 per hour, up from the $10.58 per hour wage that took effect Jan. 1, and increases the tipped wage to $4.01 per hour. Moving forward, the plan will raise Michigan's minimum wage to $14.97 by 2028 and gradually phase out the state's lower tipped wage rate. Takes effect: Feb. 21, 2025
Expanded unemployment benefits: Expands eligibility for unemployment benefits from 20 to 26 weeks, and increases the weekly maximum benefit from $362 per week to $446 per week this year. That benefit will gradually increase to $614 per week by 2027 and will be tied to inflation rates in subsequent years. Takes effect: April 1, 2025
Automatic voter registration: Automatically registers qualified residents who apply for a driver's license or state identification to vote in Michigan. The law also allows for previously incarcerated residents to be automatically registered upon release. Residents have the option to opt out of automatic registration. Takes effect: June 30, 2025
Cage-free eggs: Requires Michigan grocers to sell eggs from "cage-free" facilities, defined as an environment where egg-laying hens can roam freely and have room for enrichment, unless an egg producer has less than 3,000 hens. Took effect: Dec. 31, 2024
The pending wage and sick leave rules were prompted by last summer’s blockbuster ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court, which found that Republican lawmakers exceeded their authority in 2018 by adopting a potential ballot proposal but then immediately changing it.
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Barring any legislative action, the court-ordered rules for paid sick leave and minimum wage will take effect Feb. 21. There’s nothing stopping lawmakers from revisiting the court-ordered changes later, however.
Here’s a closer look at those looming changes and some of the other significant laws set to take effect this year.
Paid sick time requirements
What it will do: Starting Feb. 21, nearly all Michigan workers will accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, absent any legislative adjustments.
At minimum, companies with 10 or more employees must allow workers to take up to 72 hours of accrued sick leave per year, and smaller firms must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick time and 32 hours unpaid sick time. Workers can carry unused paid sick time over from year to year.
Michigan’s new rules will make the state’s paid sick time policy one of the broadest in the nation. Besides Michigan, 15 other states and Washington, D.C. have laws requiring paid time off for workers. Among the most recent are Colorado, New Mexico and Minnesota.
The Michigan law will also:
- Allow workers to sue if rights are denied
- Eliminate requirements to provide documentation if absences exceed three days
- End "front loaded" sick time, such as at the start of a year
How it impacts Michigan: Worker advocates have said changes to paid sick time laws are long overdue and would protect Michigan workers who currently have no sick-leave benefits.
But business groups argue the changes add a new layer of bookkeeping costs and strip away flexibility for businesses that have more lenient paid sick time programs or combine sick time and vacation into paid time off plans.
Further reading: Businesses fear worst from Michigan’s new sick time law. Will lawmakers act?
Minimum wage increases
What it will do: The hourly minimum wage for adult workers, which increased to $10.56 per hour on Jan. 1, will increase again on Feb. 21 to $12.48 per hour. The state’s tipped minimum wage will increase to $4.01 per hour.
Moving forward, the policy will raise Michigan's minimum wage to $14.97 by 2028 and phase out the state's lower tipped wage rate by 2030, raising minimum wages for tipped workers to the same rate as hourly employees.
How it impacts Michigan: The biggest impact will be felt by the state’s tipped workers, who will see a nearly 50% increase in their hourly wage, and their employers.
Restaurant and bar owners warn the major change will cut into their bottom line and could result in layoffs, price hikes on the menu or even permanent closure.
Some tipped workers fear losing customer tips — which for many wait staff and bartenders amounts to far more than what they’d make at a standard minimum wage job — if their base wage increases.
Others believe eliminating the lower minimum wage for tipped workers will bring equity to an industry that’s long been reliant on the generosity of customers.
Further reading: As Michigan minimum wage fight rages, bipartisan plan would keep tipped rate
Expanded unemployment benefits
Starting April 1, unemployed Michigan workers will be eligible for additional weekly benefits for up to six months under legislation signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in December.
What it will do: The legislation expands eligibility for unemployment benefits from 20 to 26 weeks, making permanent a pandemic-era increase in benefit eligibility.
The new law will also bump the weekly maximum benefit from $362 per week to $446 this year, increasing to $614 per week by 2027. After that, the maximum weekly benefit will be tied to inflation rates.
How it impacts Michigan: The law, passed late last year, marks the first increase in unemployment compensation since 2003 and reverses a 2011 law signed by then-Republican Gov. Rick Snyder that cut unemployment insurance eligibility to 20 weeks.
The legislation aligns Michigan with the majority of states that offer at least 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. Only 13 states, including Michigan, currently offer fewer weeks.
Republican lawmakers and business leaders balked at the changes, arguing a dramatic increase in benefits would threaten the state’s unemployment trust fund and potentially trigger additional costs for employers who fund the system.
Critics also pointed to the Unemployment Insurance Agency’s recent missteps during the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in a deluge of fraudulent claims and cost the state billions of dollars, arguing that the state should fix existing problems before introducing new ones.
Former UIA Director Julia Dale, who resigned in December, said last spring that the agency has made significant improvements. The UIA has moved away from “quick fixes” and is instead “driving toward lasting change” through technology and personnel improvements, she told lawmakers.
Further reading: Michigan Senate OKs unemployment boost with expanded, extended benefits
Automatic voter registration
Beginning on June 30, 2025, Michigan will broadly expand its automatic voter registration program to include residents applying for Medicaid and exiting prison, as well as those applying for driver’s licenses or state IDs.
What it will do: The Secretary of State already automatically registers residents who apply for state driver’s licenses or identification cards, which the new law codifies.
Under the legislation, citizens can also be automatically registered to vote when they apply for Medicaid benefits or are released from prison. Tribal nations will also have the option to register or pre-register their members to vote.
Affected residents can opt out of automatic registration if they choose.
How it impacts Michigan: The change came as part of a sweeping series of election bills signed in 2023 that supporters argued would help boost democratic participation and prevent "chaos" in the event of disputed elections.
GOP lawmakers opposed the changes, arguing they could compromise election security and increase administrative costs for both the state and for local election clerks.
The automatic voter registration law took effect later than the rest of the package to give state agencies time to update government technology and prepare to send opt-out notices to affected citizens.
Further reading: Whitmer signs Michigan election law overhaul that aims to prevent ‘chaos’
Cage-free eggs
A 2019 law that took effect Dec. 31, 2024 requires Michigan grocers to sell eggs from “cage-free” facilities.
What it means: The state’s Animal Industry Act defines cage-free housing as an environment where egg-laying hens can roam freely and have room for “enrichments” like perches, nest boxes, dust bathing areas and scratch areas.
The law was signed five years ago to give Michigan egg producers time to make necessary changes to their facilities and excludes egg producers with less than 3,000 hens, though larger operations make up the bulk of Michigan’s egg market.
Michigan isn’t the only state moving towards cage-free eggs. At least 10 other states have similar laws on the books or in the works, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and cage-free laws will affect 16% of the nation’s egg operations by 2026.
How it impacts Michigan: Above all, the change will benefit chickens. Supporters for cage-free facilities maintain that small, cramped cages inhibit hens’ freedom of movement and are inhumane.
But cage-free facilities are more expensive to operate, meaning that some of the costs associated with updating chickens’ quarters could be passed down to the consumer, a Michigan State University analysis found.
Related reading: Michigan eggs must be cage-free by 2025 as new sales law takes effect
Organ donor tax credits
As of April 1, live organ donors are eligible for a one-time state income tax credit.
What it will do: Live organ donors can get a tax credit of up to $10,000 for lost wages, child care, transportation, lodging and other expenses related to the procedure.
For tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2025, the one-time credit can be claimed in the tax year of the surgery or for tax years before or after the procedure . Donors may be required to provide documentation to the Department of Treasury.
How it impacts Michigan: Supporters say the credit will incentivize healthy taxpayers who may be considering organ donation, but can’t afford the non-medical expenses of doing so that aren’t covered by health insurance.
Further reading: Give an organ, get a $10,000 Michigan tax credit
School CPR requirements
By the time the 2025-26 school year begins, Michigan schools will need to have a cardiac emergency response plan in place.
What it will do: Among other things, the legislation requires public schools with athletics programs to develop a plan for how to respond when someone goes into cardiac arrest, starting with the 2025-2026 school year.
A second bill requires all public school athletic coaches be certified to administer CPR and use an automated external defibrillator, or AED.
How it impacts Michigan: Backers say the legislation will save people’s lives when they experience sudden cardiac arrest, where the heart can’t pump blood to the body’s organs. Without treatment, a person can die within minutes.
The new laws are part of a national push by groups like the National Football League and the American Heart Association to offer better emergency care for people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.
Further reading: Lawmakers want more CPR, cardiac arrest training for Michigan schools
Bridge Michigan reporter Jordyn Hermani contributed.
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