Earned Sick Time Act Takes Effect on October 1st for Chiropractic Practices with 10 or Fewer Employees
As you know, earlier this year the Michigan Legislature passed and Governor Whitmer signed into law legislation amending Michigan’s Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA). Michigan law now requires all employers – even small businesses – to provide earned sick time to their employees.
In light of this, the MAC Legal Affairs team urges all chiropractors with even one employee to review the new law and, if needed, be prepared to amend their paid leave policies, with an eye toward the following questions:
- What paid leave policy do I currently have in place? Will I need to make changes when compliance with my small business is required on October 1st?
- How will this new law affect my staffing requirements? Will attendance policies and discipline be administered differently moving forward?
- What is my benefit year for purposes of vacation, paid time off, etc? Calendar, fiscal, other?
- Will I need to combine ESTA paid time off with vacation time to move to a PTO-type policy?
- How will I award earned sick time to my employees, through the accrual method or by frontloading the required hours at the beginning of the benefit year?
MAC Members: The MAC has created a FAQ document that can help practices answer these questions, available here.
Additional Resources
- Michigan Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA)
- Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO)
- Webinar with LEO Deputy Director of Labor Sean Egan (Recording)(Slides)
- LEO FAQs
- LEO Earned Sick Time Act website
- Michigan Chamber of Commerce Paid Leave, Minimum Wage Toolkit Downloads
- Overview & Highlights Summary
- FAQs
- Top Things Employers Need to Know
- ESTA Compliance Worksheet
- ESTA Resource List
- Sample Handbook Policy and Notification Letter
- Legal Resources
