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This guide provides essential information about Michigan's Earned Sick Time Act (“ESTA” or the “Act”) and how it applies to your business. The Act applies to any employer with at least one employee in Michigan, including full-time, part-time, and temporary workers.
Sick Time Requirements Based on Employer Size:
- Employers with 11 or more employees: 72 hours of paid sick leave per year.
- Employers with 10 or fewer employees: 40 hours of paid sick leave per year.
There are some exceptions to implementing this leave as follows:
- Small employers (with ten or fewer employees) now have until October 1, 2025 to comply with this leave.
- Small businesses that did not employ an employee on or before February 21, 2022, are not required to comply with this act until 3 years after the date that the employer first employs an employee.
Employers have the following options for setting up their sick leave:
- Accrual with carryover: employees accrue sick leave at a minimum rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year (small employers) or 72 hours, and carryover unused hours into the next year subject to a 72-hour cap regardless of employer size;
- Front load with no payout or carryover: provide employees 40 hours per year (small employers) or 72 hours at the beginning of the year (frontloaded) for immediate use.
There are other requirements under the state sick leave law, which you may read more about here. Some of these requirements are also detailed further below. Employers can also read up on general sick leave best practices here.
Note: The Michigan Paid Medical Leave Act (PMLA) was sunset on February 21, 2025, due to the reinstatement of the Michigan Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA).
Employee Eligibility & Use
All employees, with a few exceptions, are entitled to paid sick leave. Employees may use earned sick time for themselves or a family member for any of the following reasons:
- mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition;
- medical appointments and preventative care;
- domestic violence or sexual assault situations (medical, legal, relocation, etc.);
- meetings at a child’s school or care facility related to health, disability, or domestic violence/sexual assault;
- business or school closures due to a public health emergency; and
- isolation or quarantine due to a communicable disease.
You should review the law and resources at the bottom of this page to understand additional requirements under the Michigan law, such as increments of use, how hours are determined for exempt and salaried employees, how pay is calculated, who is a “family member,” what type of notice and documentation an employer may require, pay statement requirements, and how sick time is handled upon termination of employment.
Interaction with an Employer’s Existing Policies
An employer’s paid time off (PTO) plan or other type of paid leave (including sick or vacation time) can satisfy this law if, at a minimum, the plan meets the law’s requirements (e.g., accrual, carryover, and usage requirements of sick leave, etc.). Additionally, nothing prohibits an employer from providing more generous leave policies than the minimum required by the law.
Notice Requirements
Employers must provide written notice to each employee at the time of hiring or by March 23, 2025, whichever is later, that includes, but is not limited to:
- The amount of earned sick time the law requires to be provided to an employee;
- The employer’s benefit year;
- The terms under which earned sick time may be used;
- That retaliatory personnel action taken by an employer against an employee for requesting or using earned sick time is prohibited; and
- The employee’s right to bring a civil action or file a complaint with the enforcement agency for a violation.
Additionally, employers are required to conspicuously display a poster at their place of business, in a place that is accessible to employees, that contains the information listed above.
The written notice and the poster must be in English, Spanish, and any language that is the first language spoken by at least 10% of the employer’s workforce, as long as the Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) has translated the notice into such language. See the Posting Requirements section here.
If you set up a separate sick leave policy in Justworks as a PEO customer, we will automatically add this balance information to employees' paystubs, and it is available to your employees at any time when they log into the Justworks platform.
Limitations on Paid Sick Leave
Employees start accruing sick leave on their first day of work but may have to wait up to 120 days to use it..
An employer is not required to pay out accrued, unused paid sick time when an employee separates from employment with the employer.
Keep in mind that if a separated employee is rehired within 2 months of separation, the employer must reinstate any previously accrued but unused sick leave if it was not paid out on separation from employment.
Resources & Notes
- Help Center: Sick and Safe Leave
- Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity: Earned Sick Time Act
- Mineral: Michigan Sick Leave*
*Be sure you’re logged into your Justworks account with administrative permissions to access Mineral.
Disclaimer
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal or tax advice. If you have any legal or tax questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with your professional legal or tax advisor.