Michigan Sick Time Law Update

ESTA set to go into effect February 21

Despite frantic efforts by business groups to obtain legislative changes, at the moment (February 12, 2025) Michigan's onerous (for employers) Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA) is set to go into effect on February 21, 2025. While legislative debate over softening the law continues, ultimately there will be a new sick time law that requires employers to grant substantial amounts of paid sick leave to their workers.

What you need to know

Leaving aside small businesses with less than 10 employees, below is a summary of ESTA's key provisions:

• Employees may accrue up to 72 hours of paid earned sick time per year.
• Unused sick time rolls over each year and there is no cap on accruals.
• An employer may enact a policy limiting sick time usage to 72 hours a year.
• Employers are not required to pay out unused sick time.
• Employees separated from employment for 6 months or less maintain all accrued earned sick time prior to the separation and begin accruing additional hours upon reemployment.
• An employer may enact a policy requiring a new employee to wait until the 90th calendar day after commencing employment before using accrued earned sick time.
• The law covers employees physically working in the state, including those working remotely from Michigan and reporting to an office in another state.
• Employees must accrue one hour of paid earned sick time for every 30 hours worked. Accrual at this rate begins on February 21 for existing employees (on top of any existing paid sick leave accrual) and at hire for new employees thereafter.
• Salaried workers with no fixed hours are presumed to work 40 hours a week for accrual purposes.
• An accrual year can be any 12-month period; however, most employers will use the calendar year for administrative convenience.

The grounds for taking sick leave under the law are quite broad:

1. The employee’s mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of the employee’s mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or preventative medical care for the employee.
2. For the employee’s family member’s mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of the employee’s family member’s mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or preventative medical care for a family member of the employee.
3. If the employee or the employee’s family member is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, for medical care or psychological or other counseling for physical or psychological injury or disability; to obtain services from a victim services organization; to relocate due to domestic violence or sexual assault; to obtain legal services; or to participate in any civil or criminal proceedings related to or resulting from the domestic violence or sexual assault.
4. For meetings at a child’s school or place of care related to the child’s health or disability, or the effects of domestic violence or sexual assault on the child; or
5. For closure of the employee’s place of business by order of a public official due to a public health emergency; for an employee’s need to care for a child whose school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency; or when it has been determined by the health authorities having jurisdiction or by a health care provider that the employee’s or employee’s family member’s presence in the community would jeopardize the health of others because of the employee’s or family member’s exposure to a communicable disease, whether or not the employee or family member has actually contracted the communicable disease.

Some version of this structure will go into effect on February 21, so Michigan employers should prepare now. This includes preparing draft policies limiting sick time usage to 72 hours a year and disallowing use of sick time in the first 90 days of employment.

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