Group appeals minimum wage, sick time ruling to Michigan Supreme Court
Advocates for raising Michigan's minimum wage and employer sick time requirements have asked the Michigan Supreme Court to overturn a Court of Appeals ruling that found the Michigan Legislature did have the authority to effectively water down a pair of petition initiatives addressing the issues in 2018.
In its appeal, filed Friday, a coalition of groups called on the high court to restore Court of Claims Judge Douglas Shapiro’s July 2022 ruling that found the Legislature acted unconstitutionally in 2018 when it adopted language brought forward by a pair of petition initiatives and amended the petition language to weaken their original intent. Shapiro’s ruling was reversed by a three-judge Court of Appeals panel in January.
“If allowed to stand, the Court of Appeals decision upholding this unprecedented ‘adopt and amend’ scheme means the end of the people’s century-old constitutional right of statutory initiative because future legislatures will simply ‘adopt and amend’ any proposal they dislike,” attorney Mark Brewer wrote on behalf of the coalition, made up of groups Mothering Justice, Michigan One Fair Wage, Michigan Time to Care, Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan and plaintiffs James Hawk and Tia Marie Sanders.
More:Michigan minimum wage increase, paid sick leave wiped out after appeals panel ruling
In 2018, the Legislature, then controlled by Republicans, adopted legislation created through a petition initiative originally intended to raise Michigan’s minimum wage to $12.05 by 2022, as well as raise the tipped minimum wage before eliminating it altogether by 2024. The tipped minimum wage is the hourly pay given to workers expected to make the bulk of their earnings through tips, like restaurant servers and bartenders.
After adopting the petition, lawmakers in the same session amended the language to put in lower wage thresholds that increased the minimum wage to $12.05 by 2030 instead of 2022 and kept the tipped minimum wage at 38% of the standard one.
A separate petition initiative originally intended to require Michigan employers to provide one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours of work. Employers with fewer than 10 employees would have to allow employees to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick time annually, and employers with 10 or more would have to allow employees to accrue up to 72 hours of paid sick time per year.
In 2018, the Legislature amended the petition to remove requirements for employers with fewer than 50 employees.
Shapiro’s ruling would have reverted the laws back to their original intent by Feb. 19, raising the minimum wage to $13.03 an hour and the tipped minimum wage to $11.73 an hour. But a unanimous ruling from a Court of Appeals panel Jan. 26 wiped out the changes, prompting the group to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.
More:Ruling on Michigan tipped wages could be 'massive, fundamental' change to restaurant industry
In their ruling, Court of Appeals Judges Christopher Murray, Michael Kelly and Michael Riordan wrote there was no explicit statute preventing the Legislature from using the adopt and amend method in a single session. In a separate concurring opinion, Kelly called the tactic “anti-democratic” but noted it was not illegal.
The Michigan Supreme Court can decline to hear the case. In December 2019, the high court declined to issue an opinion over the constitutionality of adopt and amend, MLive reported.
While the legal argument rests on the high court’s interpretation of the petition initiative process, backers of the initial causes say there are quality-of-life consequences for tipped and low-wage workers in Michigan. Advocates for raising and eventually eliminating the tipped minumum wage argue it would be an economic boon to many working-class Michiganders in the hospitality industry.
“It’s an oxymoron to have a sub-minimum wage,” Graham Barton, a metro Detroit barista, told the Free Press. “You're getting paid less than the least amount that you're able to get paid.”
Michigan's current hourly minimum wage is $10.10. The tipped minimum wage is $3.84 an hour. Barton added by eliminating the tipped minimum wage, workers wouldn’t have to rely on the generosity of their patrons, saying customers are likely to tip less in times of economic downturn.
“If you put your work in, you should be compensated,” Barton said.
Business and restaurant advocacy groups in Michigan, however, say Shapiro’s ruling would threaten establishments throughout the state. A survey commissioned by the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association last September found that 58% of businesses surveyed would lay off employees if the wage increases had gone into effect, while 16% indicated they would have to close. The survey was conducted among 307 restaurant and hotel operators in Michigan, per the MRLA.
"We are optimistic that the Michigan Supreme Court will recognize the same and allow this industry to redirect its focus to the daunting task of recovering from a pandemic that decimated it so completely,” MRLA President Justin Winslow said in a statement Jan. 26, following the Court of Appeals ruling.
Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @arpanlobo.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Group appeals minimum wage, sick time ruling to Michigan Supreme Court
