Minimum Wage In Michigan To Rise In 2025, Up To $15 In 3 Years

You often hear people say that they or their families don't talk about politics and its often because tempers flare when there are disagreements in viewpoints. Minimum wage is one of many controversial topics that comes up during the politics debates that many people try to avoid. As some people have very capitalistic views while others are more along the humane side of the equation.

Although this conversation may ruffle some feathers, it is a very important conversation to be had as wage levels directly correlate to the quality of life an individual has. While yes, there are jobs that deserve to be paid more than others, this doesn't mean that jobs of lower demand deserve to offer low wages. The main reason that minimum wage was signed into law was to ensure that all working adults would have a substantial living. This was forgotten for a while, but Michigan is one of the states that is looking to restart this initiative.

Many people believe that if you're folding clothes in a retail store, working as a cashier at a grocery store, or flipping burgers at a fast-food restaurant that you don't deserve to earn $15. They aren't saying that because they believe these people are inferior but more so to keep money in their pockets as they believe if minimum wage raises then inflation will go higher, costing them more money for everyday items.

While some of this is true, raising the minimum wage to $15 shouldn't change this too much. If we're being honest, inflation has already hit us tough after the COVID-19 pandemic and can't hit too much harder. With that being said, the State of Michigan is going back to their minimum wage increase plan and hope to reach the goal of $15 in 3 years.

The Michigan Supreme Court elected to reinstate the two ballot initiatives that were watered down but still adopted by the state legislature in 2018. The court ruled that both rulings would be reinstated as they were written but won't go into effect until February 21st, 2025, giving businesses a chance to prepare for the change in wages. The first raise will put the minimum wage for the state of Michigan at $12.50.

The state's current minimum wage is $10.33, so minimum wage workers will see a $2.17 increase in their wages. Tipped workers will see their lower wages begin to be phased out as their wages will climb from $3.93 to about $6 next year and they hope to completely eliminate the gap by 2029. They plan on slowly climbing to a $15 minimum wage level for the state of Michigan by February 2028.

In addition to wages changing, there is also a change coming for paid sick leave for workers in Michigan. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees must allow their workers to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick leave which is 1 hour for every 30 hours of work. Larger businesses will see that number climb to 72 hours, and I would assume this is in a quarter of a year, but no specifics laid out there.

Here are the minimum wage rates in Michigan over the last 50 years: