Michigan Minimum Wage, Sick Leave Laws Take Effect

LANSING (AP) — State laws changing Michigan's minimum wage and what employers can offer workers in paid sick leave are set to go into effect.

On Friday, hourly pay rises from $9.25 to $9.45. Businesses with more than 50 workers also have to start offering one hour of paid medical leave for every 35 hours an employee works.

Both proposals were initiated by Michigan residents, but changed last year by the Republican-led Legislature. The state supreme court and Michigan Attorney General's office are reviewing the changes.

The $9.25 minimum wage had been set to increase by an inflationary amount this April. But a ballot drive gathered signatures for an initiative to set it at $10 this year and ultimately $12 in 2022.

Republican lawmakers adopted the citizens' initiative only to scale it back.

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