Michigan’s sick leave law, the Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA), requires almost every employer in the state to give workers paid sick time. You earn at least one hour for every 30 hours you work, and you can use that time for your own illness, a family member’s illness, certain safety-related needs, and a handful of other qualifying reasons. How much you can actually use in a year depends on your employer’s size: 72 hours at most workplaces, 40 hours at small businesses with ten or fewer employees.
Who the Law Covers
ESTA defines “employer” broadly. It reaches any person, business, nonprofit, corporation, LLC, government entity, or similar organization that employs at least one person. The only employer excluded is the United States government.1Michigan Legislature. MCL 408.962 – Definitions That is a major expansion from the earlier Paid Medical Leave Act, which only applied to businesses with 50 or more employees.
Size still matters for how the rules apply. A small business is one with ten or fewer people working for pay during a given week, counting full-time, part-time, and temporary workers, including staffing-agency placements. Once an employer has 11 or more workers for 20 or more workweeks in the current or prior calendar year, it is no longer a small business under the law.2State of Michigan. Earned Sick Time Act: Frequently Asked Questions
Most workers are covered. The narrow list of people who are not includes federal government employees, unpaid trainees and interns, individuals employed under Michigan’s Youth Employment Standards Act, and employees whose employer policy lets them set their own hours with no penalty for choosing not to schedule any minimum.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan HNB 4002 – Earned Sick Time Act Amendments Salaried professionals, seasonal workers, and part-time employees are all in. Overtime-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act are assumed to work 40 hours per week for accrual purposes unless their regular schedule is shorter. Workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement that was in effect when ESTA took effect come under the law once that contract reaches its stated expiration date.
How Much Sick Time You Earn and Can Use
Accrual is the same for everyone: one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, starting on your first day on the job.4Michigan Legislature. MCL 408.963 – Earned Sick Time Act What differs is how much of that time you can actually use in a year:
- At small businesses with ten or fewer employees, you can use up to 40 hours per year.
- At all other employers, you can use up to 72 hours per year.
There is no hard cap on how many hours you can accumulate in your bank. If you work long weeks you may build up more hours than the annual usage limit, but the employer can still cap what you actually use in a year at 72 (or 40 at a small business). Employers can set a higher limit if they want to.2State of Michigan. Earned Sick Time Act: Frequently Asked Questions
New hires may have to wait up to 120 calendar days before using accrued time, but hours start building up on day one. The waiting period does not apply if your employer frontloads the full annual allotment instead of tracking accrual week by week.2State of Michigan. Earned Sick Time Act: Frequently Asked Questions
If your employer tracks accrual rather than frontloading, unused hours carry over to the next year. Small businesses must allow at least 40 hours to carry over, and larger employers at least 72. The annual usage caps still apply, so a large carryover balance does not let you use more than the yearly maximum.
What You Can Use Sick Time For
ESTA covers your own mental or physical illness, injury, medical diagnosis, treatment, and preventive care. It covers all the same needs for a family member.5Michigan Legislature. MCL 408.964 – Earned Sick Time; Permissible Uses
“Family member” is defined broadly. It includes your children (biological, adopted, foster, stepchildren, legal wards, and the children of a domestic partner), parents and stepparents, spouse, domestic partner, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings. It also reaches anyone related by blood or by a close personal association equivalent to a family relationship.6Michigan Legislature. MCL 408.962 – Definitions That last category is unusually wide and can include a close friend who has no one else to help.
If you or a family member is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, you can use sick time for medical care, counseling, victim services, relocation, legal services, or participation in related court proceedings.5Michigan Legislature. MCL 408.964 – Earned Sick Time; Permissible Uses
Public health emergencies qualify too. That includes closures of your workplace or your child’s school ordered by a public official, and situations where a health authority or healthcare provider determines that you or a family member could jeopardize public health due to exposure to a communicable disease, even without a confirmed infection.
One qualifying use that many workers overlook: meetings at a child’s school or place of care related to the child’s health, disability, or the effects of domestic violence or sexual assault on the child.
Pay, Notice, and Documentation
You must be paid for sick time at the greater of your normal hourly wage or Michigan’s minimum wage. Payment goes out in your next regular paycheck on the usual payroll cycle.7Michigan Legislature. MCL 408.963 – Earned Sick Time; Pay Rate Your employer cannot require you to find a replacement worker as a condition of taking the leave.4Michigan Legislature. MCL 408.963 – Earned Sick Time Act
For leave you can plan ahead, like a scheduled procedure, your employer may require up to seven days’ advance notice. For unforeseeable needs, you give notice as soon as practicable. Your employer can hold you to a written sick-time notice policy only if they actually gave you a copy, and only if they notified you within five days of any changes. If they never handed over the policy, they cannot deny leave for a notice violation.5Michigan Legislature. MCL 408.964 – Earned Sick Time; Permissible Uses
For absences longer than three consecutive days, your employer can request reasonable documentation that the leave was for a qualifying purpose. You have up to 15 days to provide it. The documentation does not have to describe the illness or the details of any violence, and your employer must cover any out-of-pocket cost you incur to get it. The employer cannot delay the start of your leave while waiting for paperwork.2State of Michigan. Earned Sick Time Act: Frequently Asked Questions Any medical information you share must be kept confidential and stored separately from your general personnel file.
Retaliation Is Prohibited
Your employer cannot retaliate or discriminate against you for using earned sick time or otherwise exercising rights under the law. An attendance policy cannot treat ESTA-protected sick time as an absence that triggers discipline, unless you failed to follow the written notice procedures.2State of Michigan. Earned Sick Time Act: Frequently Asked Questions Protection extends to employees who allege a violation in good faith, even if the allegation turns out to be wrong. An employer can discipline you only if you used sick time for a purpose the law does not authorize or violated the notice rules. Point-based attendance systems that automatically count protected sick time against you violate the act.
How ESTA Fits with Federal FMLA
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act applies only to employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius, and only to workers with at least 12 months and 1,250 hours of service.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28: The Family and Medical Leave Act ESTA covers employers of every size with no comparable tenure requirement beyond the possible 120-day waiting period.
FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. Either you or your employer can choose to use accrued paid sick time, including ESTA hours, during FMLA leave. When paid sick time is used for an FMLA-qualifying reason, those hours count against both the ESTA and FMLA allotments at the same time.9U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions If you work for a smaller employer and do not qualify for FMLA, ESTA still protects you.
If Your Employer Violates the Law
You can file a complaint with Michigan’s Wage and Hour Division within six months of the alleged violation. The form is the WHD-9430 Wage and Benefit Complaint, available as a download or through the division’s online portal.10State of Michigan. Filing an Earned Sick Time Complaint Six months is a short window, so if you believe your rights were violated, act well before it closes rather than waiting to see whether things change at work.