By Ben Solis
Gongwer News Service
The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday clarified how the state should move forward with a minimum wage increase plan, concluding the Department of Treasury interpretation of the ruling is correct and clearing the way for a $14.97 minimum wage by 2028.
In its most recent order for Mothering Justice v. Attorney General (MSC Docket No. 165325), the high court noted the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s and the Department of Treasury’s calculations for a new minimum wage phase in plan were on track.
The departments had asked for clarification on multiple issues, arguing there were different ways to calculate the inflation adjustment for the minimum wage and that the court missed a phase-in percentage on the tipped wage increase.
Originally, the agencies had asked for the court to weigh in by September 15, but that date lapsed with no response. The justices were not bound to that deadline, however, and today issued clarifications of key footnotes in the opinion initially authored by Justice Elizabeth Welch.
Treasury is required to submit its wage increase figures by November 1.
Key in the order is how to calculate the inflation adjustment for the new minimum wage. The state presented several options but said Treasury believed the court intended for it to begin calculating inflation on January 1, 2019, through July 31, when the adopt and amend ruling was issued.
The department’s calculations had the minimum wage increases at $12.48 in 2025, $13.29 in 2026, $14.16 in 2027 and $14.97 in 2028.
As to whether the state correctly interpreted the court’s remedy in respect to inflation, the order said the state was correct.
“The defendants interpret the opinion as requiring that they ‘bring the statutory minimum wages in Section 4(1) current to July 31, 2024, through an inflationary catch-up beginning January 1, 2019.’ The defendants are correct,” the order said.
In a statement, Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association President and CEO Justin Winslow said he was displeased with the Supreme Court’s attempt – and failure – to clarify the concerns of “18,000 anxious restaurant operators today – nearly 50 days after the original ruling unnecessarily threatened to close one in five full-service restaurants in Michigan.”
“The unfortunate reality is that restaurant operators are now just 156 days away from the onset of tip credit elimination, which will wreak havoc on the industry and its nearly 500,000 employees,” Winslow said. “A remarkable event transpired at our state Capitol today, as 700 restaurant servers and bartenders expressed their frustration, bordering on anger, that their elected leaders aren’t showing up to do their job. They are all rightfully concerned that their own jobs are at risk, and they want to see action before it is too late.”
Winslow called on the Legislature to keep working on the issue, hoping their efforts would be bipartisan in nature and help save jobs. Winslow’s group is one of several business organizations asking the Legislature to preserve the lower minimum wage for tipped workers. It is currently 38 percent of the minimum wage but will be phased out under the law set to take effect next year.
Justice Elizabeth Welch wrote a concurring opinion detailing where the drafting confusion may have arisen, while Justice Brian Zahra wrote a dissenting opinion joined by Justice David Viviano.
The state in its filing also noted the original opinion in outlining the phase-in for the tipped wage skipped from 80 percent of the regular minimum wage in 2028 to 100 percent in 2029. The law, however, includes a 90 percent phase in.
The court agreed and said the tipped wage in fact would reach 100 percent of the regular minimum wage in 2030 rather than 2029 as it first wrote.
Additionally, the court clarified the wage adjustments would take effect February 21 of each year beginning in 2025. The state normally implements minimum wage increases on January 1 of each year.
Zarah’s dissent accused the majority of again entering “amendments to employment-law statutes and attempts to clarify the uncertainty surrounding its opinion.”
“A majority of this Court has no authority to rewrite unambiguous statutory provisions in pursuit of its subjective understanding of ‘equity,’” Zahra wrote. “Such power is vested with the Legislature, not the judicial branch, and no case available to the court in Michigan or any other jurisdiction in this nation has adopted or condoned the extraordinary remedial actions taken in this case by the court, both in the initial opinion and in the instant order.”
Gongwer News Service
The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday clarified how the state should move forward with a minimum wage increase plan, concluding the Department of Treasury interpretation of the ruling is correct and clearing the way for a $14.97 minimum wage by 2028.
In its most recent order for Mothering Justice v. Attorney General (MSC Docket No. 165325), the high court noted the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s and the Department of Treasury’s calculations for a new minimum wage phase in plan were on track.
The departments had asked for clarification on multiple issues, arguing there were different ways to calculate the inflation adjustment for the minimum wage and that the court missed a phase-in percentage on the tipped wage increase.
Originally, the agencies had asked for the court to weigh in by September 15, but that date lapsed with no response. The justices were not bound to that deadline, however, and today issued clarifications of key footnotes in the opinion initially authored by Justice Elizabeth Welch.
Treasury is required to submit its wage increase figures by November 1.
Key in the order is how to calculate the inflation adjustment for the new minimum wage. The state presented several options but said Treasury believed the court intended for it to begin calculating inflation on January 1, 2019, through July 31, when the adopt and amend ruling was issued.
The department’s calculations had the minimum wage increases at $12.48 in 2025, $13.29 in 2026, $14.16 in 2027 and $14.97 in 2028.
As to whether the state correctly interpreted the court’s remedy in respect to inflation, the order said the state was correct.
“The defendants interpret the opinion as requiring that they ‘bring the statutory minimum wages in Section 4(1) current to July 31, 2024, through an inflationary catch-up beginning January 1, 2019.’ The defendants are correct,” the order said.
In a statement, Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association President and CEO Justin Winslow said he was displeased with the Supreme Court’s attempt – and failure – to clarify the concerns of “18,000 anxious restaurant operators today – nearly 50 days after the original ruling unnecessarily threatened to close one in five full-service restaurants in Michigan.”
“The unfortunate reality is that restaurant operators are now just 156 days away from the onset of tip credit elimination, which will wreak havoc on the industry and its nearly 500,000 employees,” Winslow said. “A remarkable event transpired at our state Capitol today, as 700 restaurant servers and bartenders expressed their frustration, bordering on anger, that their elected leaders aren’t showing up to do their job. They are all rightfully concerned that their own jobs are at risk, and they want to see action before it is too late.”
Winslow called on the Legislature to keep working on the issue, hoping their efforts would be bipartisan in nature and help save jobs. Winslow’s group is one of several business organizations asking the Legislature to preserve the lower minimum wage for tipped workers. It is currently 38 percent of the minimum wage but will be phased out under the law set to take effect next year.
Justice Elizabeth Welch wrote a concurring opinion detailing where the drafting confusion may have arisen, while Justice Brian Zahra wrote a dissenting opinion joined by Justice David Viviano.
The state in its filing also noted the original opinion in outlining the phase-in for the tipped wage skipped from 80 percent of the regular minimum wage in 2028 to 100 percent in 2029. The law, however, includes a 90 percent phase in.
The court agreed and said the tipped wage in fact would reach 100 percent of the regular minimum wage in 2030 rather than 2029 as it first wrote.
Additionally, the court clarified the wage adjustments would take effect February 21 of each year beginning in 2025. The state normally implements minimum wage increases on January 1 of each year.
Zarah’s dissent accused the majority of again entering “amendments to employment-law statutes and attempts to clarify the uncertainty surrounding its opinion.”
“A majority of this Court has no authority to rewrite unambiguous statutory provisions in pursuit of its subjective understanding of ‘equity,’” Zahra wrote. “Such power is vested with the Legislature, not the judicial branch, and no case available to the court in Michigan or any other jurisdiction in this nation has adopted or condoned the extraordinary remedial actions taken in this case by the court, both in the initial opinion and in the instant order.”
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