On January 1, 2023, Michigan’s minimum wage will increase as follows:
- Hourly employees will increase from $9.87 to $10.10 per hour;
- Minors aged 16 to 17 years of age, who receive 85% of the minimum wage, will now receive $8.59 per hour;
- Tipped employees will increase from $3.75 to $3.85 per hour.
Training wage will remain the same at $4.25 per hour for newly hired employees ages 16 to 19 for their first 90 days of employment.
It is important to note that there is litigation currently pending that may affect the above increases. Back in 2018, One Fair Wage organized a petition to increase the minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2022 for hourly employees and raise the minimum wage of tipped employees to 80% of the minimum wage for hourly employees by 2022, 90% by 2023, and match the minimum wage of hourly employees by 2024.
The Michigan legislature initially adopted the legislation but amended it in 2018 lowering the threshold increases to $12.05 per hour by 2030 and keeping tipped employees at 38% of the current minimum wage ($9.87). The amendment was challenged as unconstitutional with the Court of Claims agreeing and issuing a decision on July 19, 2022 that voided the amendments. On July 29, 2022, the Court of Claims entered an order staying the effect of this decision until February 19, 2023 to give employers adequate time to accommodate the required changes required by the ruling.
The Court of Claim’s ruling has since been appealed and is currently pending. If the originally adopted petition were to become effective, minimum wage has the potential to increase to $13.03 per hour for hourly employees and $11.73 per hour for tipped employees.
Chelsea Lenard is an associate attorney at Grewal Law PLLC. Her practice focuses primarily on personal injury, cannabis law, family law, criminal law, and employment law.
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