(WXYZ) — If you make minimum wage, expect a raise on Jan. 1, 2023.
The state Legislature passed a law in 2018 that increases the minimum wage from $9.87 to $10.10 an hour next year. For workers who are 16 or 17 years old, the minimum wage will increase to $8.59 per hour. The tipped employee wage increases to $3.84 per hour. The training wage for workers ages 16 to 19 will be $4.25 for their first 90 days of employment.
However, there is pending litigation that could lead to an even larger increase.
The legal battle stems from a 2018 petition initiative organized by One Fair Wage, which sought to allow voters to decide on raising Michigan’s minimum wage to $13.03 an hour and increase the wage tipped workers get to $11.73 by 2023. The Legislature blocked it from voters by adopting the legislation and amending the wage to the lower amount.
"There are hundreds of thousands of workers in this state who deserved a minimum wage increase back in 2018 when the Legislature did this and have been denied hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Mark Brewer, an attorney with Goodman Acker.
Brewer has argued the Legislature violated the Constitution when it gutted the petition initiative with amendments in a single session.
The Legislature’s lawyers say that the Legislature has the right to adopt and amend initiatives.
The Michigan Court of Appeals is expected to return a ruling on whether the larger increase should be law by Feb. 1, 2023.
Court of Claims filing by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd
The petition initiative originally required Michigan employers with fewer than 10 employees to allow employees to accrue 40 hours of paid sick time and larger companies to allow 72 hours of paid sick time per year. The Legislature amended the size of differentiating company policies from 10 employees to those with fewer than 50 employees.
The Court of Appeals ruling would likely also impact this change.
Once the Court of Appeals decision is released, the matter is expected to be appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court no matter which side prevails.
Small businesses say not knowing what the minimum wage will be can make it hard to plan.
"It is just another burden on us trying to operate a small business," said Yanni Dionisopoulos, who owns the Golden Fleece in Greektown.
Dionisopoulos says his workers take home more than minimum wage, but he is concerned the higher minimum could impact inflation and costs at a time when many independent family restaurants continue to feel the impacts of the pandemic.
