State Representative Joey Andrews is looking for a compromise on the state’s minimum wage and sick leave laws after a Michigan Supreme Court decision in July reversed the state Legislature’s amendments to a 2018 ballot measure raising the wage and guaranteeing paid sick time to workers.
The big news out of the ruling is that it would result in tipped workers now being paid the regular minimum wage and the tip credit going away for their employers. Restaurant groups have raised alarm, warning this would drive many establishments out of business.
Andrews tells us since the court decision, he’s met with restaurant owners and staff in St. Joseph, Benton Harbor, South Haven, and Saugatuck. In all locations, he heard the same things.
“By and large, nobody seemed to really care about the minimum wage increasing, the overall minimum wage,” Andrews said. “Most everybody is paying more than the minimum wage, so I took that as a pretty positive sign that there’s some compromise possible here as we look at increasing the minimum wage. The big pushback from everybody was the elimination of the tip credit and the elimination of the tips minimum wage. That came from restaurant owners and wait staff alike.”
Andrews says wait staff report making good money on tips. They don’t want the new minimum wage. Also, he’s learned the new sick leave requirements would basically create an incentive for “no call, no shows.”
Andrews has been communicating the need for a compromise with the governor and the state House Speaker’s office.
“Let’s make the sick leave policy a little simpler, a little more streamlined, easier to work with. Restore the TIP credit and maybe we can bump the minimum wage up a little bit faster as a trade-off because it seems like that was something that everybody was willing to agree was a positive thing to do.”
Andrews says any changes would likely need to be made by the end of the year. He believes Republicans could be on board and that enough Democrats can be convinced to dial back the tip credit and sick leave rules.
