Earned Sick Time Act — employer coverage
Michigan's Earned Sick Time Act applies to any employer with one or more employees. "Employer" is defined broadly to include any person, firm, business, educational institution, corporation, limited liability company, government entity, or other entity that employs one or more individuals. The United States government is excluded from the definition of employer.
Source: MCL 408.962(g)
Earned Sick Time Act — accrual rate and annual usage cap
Under Michigan's Earned Sick Time Act, employees accrue a minimum of 1 hour of paid earned sick time for every 30 hours worked. Small businesses (10 or fewer employees) may limit usage to 40 hours per year; all other employers may limit usage to 72 hours per year. Unused hours carry over year to year, up to the same cap (40 or 72 hours). As an alternative to accrual, employers may front-load the full annual amount at the beginning of the year for immediate use, which relieves the employer of carryover tracking obligations.
Source: MCL 408.963
Earned Sick Time Act — permitted uses
Michigan's Earned Sick Time Act requires employers to permit employees to use accrued earned sick time for the following enumerated categories of reasons under MCL 408.964(1).
Employee's own health needs. An employee may use earned sick time for 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.
Family member's health needs. Earned sick time may be used for a family member's mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of the family member's mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or preventative medical care for a family member. The Act defines "family member" broadly in MCL 408.962(h) to include a child (biological, adopted, foster, stepchild, legal ward, or child of a person standing in loco parentis), parent, spouse, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling.
Domestic violence or sexual assault. If the employee or the employee's family member is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, earned sick time may be used 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 assistance; or to participate in any civil or criminal legal proceeding related to or resulting from the domestic violence or sexual assault.
Public health emergencies. Earned sick time may be used 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.
MCL 408.964(9) expressly states that the Act does not require an employer to provide earned sick time for any purposes other than those described in section 4.
Source: MCL 408.964