State Rep. John Roth on Thursday supported legislative measures to protect small businesses and tipped workers from mandates set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday. In a bipartisan vote, the House passed a bipartisan plan – House Bill 4002 – to protect small businesses from unrealistic sick time rules while ensuring workers have access to leave time.

“The Legislative process worked today,” said Roth, R-Interlochen. “The Democrats tried giving us their worst, but we pulled them toward the middle and got a deal we could all agree on. If we hadn’t acted, communities across Michigan would’ve been decimated by unrealistic mandates imposed by the Supreme Court. We got far from everything we wanted, but it doesn’t mean this plan isn’t a win. Our agreement today isn’t the end of this conversation, we will continue to work on behalf of tipped workers and small businesses.”

HB 4002 guarantees all workers have access to sick time while clarifying the strict, complex rules that were originally set to take effect. The plan allows employers of all sizes to choose the sick time plan that works best for their businesses and create unique policies regarding “no call, no show” incidents. The legislation also safeguards businesses from baseless lawsuits and other attacks from left-wing activists.

A plan to protect tipped workers, Senate Bill 8, passed the House Wednesday, maintains the tip credit at 38% through 2025 while implementing annual wage increases, eventually capping at 50% of the minimum wage in 2031. The plan also heightens the penalties for employers who fail to fairly compensate their staff.

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