The Michigan House has approved a bill that will scale back some changes coming to the state’s minimum wage law as a deadline looms on Friday. If the Legislature doesn’t approve a deal, bigger changes will take effect then.
State Representative Joey Andrews was among those in the House Wednesday to vote in favor of a compromise reached in the Senate last week. He tells us it’s a fair deal that addresses both the minimum wage and the tipped wage.
“We’re raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2027, so it’s a faster timetable than originally prescribed, but at the same time, we’re raising the tipped wage only to 50% instead of eliminating it,” Andrews said. “So, it’ll be an increase in base wage for anybody who’s earning a tipped wage, but still allowing the tipping system to exist.”
Under the compromise, tipped workers will be paid 38% of the minimum wage, rather than the planned 48%. That 38% will rise to 50% in 2031.
Meanwhile, Andrews says the negotiations on a companion bill to scale back paid sick time rules continued in the Senate Wednesday.
“It sounds like that one has been a little stickier. So I’ve heard the Senate’s going to be in late tonight working on it, but there is optimism that we’re going to have a compromise before the implementation date of the 21st.”
Andrews says if the House has to work late Thursday, it will. He tells us he’s hearing from restaurants concerned about the situation they generally believe this new compromise balances everyone’s interests.
