This bill establishes the Tri-Share child care program and a dedicated state fund to support employers who cover at least one-third of their employees' child care costs. The program allows participating employers to contribute up to the full cost of care, while the state fund will be used to administer the initiative and support child care facilitator hubs. Additionally, the legislation creates a separate CareShare arrangement for employers on waitlists for the main program, ensuring they can still offer cost-sharing without receiving state subsidies. The bill includes protections against employer retaliation for employees seeking to participate and requires annual public reporting on program usage and costs.
HB 5255, the "Medical Debt Protection Act," limits how medical debt can be collected in Michigan, directly affecting patients with medical debt and large healthcare providers (with $20 million+ annual revenue) or medical debt buyers. It prohibits charging interest or late fees for 90 days after a bill is due and caps annual interest at 3% on medical debt. The bill bans aggressive collection tactics like wage garnishment for patients qualifying for financial assistance under a healthcare facility's policy, and requires medical debt buyers to follow strict rules, including not using prohibited collection actions and returning debt if a patient qualifies for financial aid.
SB 49 amends Michigan's Occupational Safety and Health Act to update key definitions and clarify enforcement responsibilities. It revises terms like "asbestos," "authorized employee representative," and "construction operations," while specifying that the Department of Labor handles safety enforcement and the Department of Public Health manages health enforcement. The bill requires these departments to annually report to legislative committees on overlapping authority and coordination efforts. This affects Michigan employers and workers, particularly in construction, agriculture, and asbestos-related industries, by updating how safety and health rules are defined and implemented.
SB 807 creates the Michigan Secure Retirement Savings Program, requiring certain employers without existing retirement plans to automatically enroll eligible employees (ages 18+ with Michigan wages) in a payroll-deducted retirement savings plan. The program establishes a separate trust fund outside the state treasury for individual retirement accounts, meeting federal IRA standards, while employers must set up payroll deductions for participation. It also creates an administrative fund to cover program costs, funded by state allocations, grants, and other sources. The law mandates automatic enrollment (with opt-out options) for employees at qualifying employers, aiming to provide low-cost, portable retirement savings for workers who lack access to employer-sponsored plans.
Senate Bill 310 establishes the tri-share child care program within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, continuing a previous pilot project. It also creates a dedicated tri-share child care fund in the state treasury to support this program. The department will administer this fund, using appropriated money to oversee the program and provide funding to existing child care facilitator hubs. New hubs may also be funded if sufficient resources are available to expand coverage to more counties or serve statewide employers. This aims to support child care access for families and providers.
SB 145 prohibits Michigan employers from asking job applicants about their past wages, credit scores, or credit history during the hiring process. This directly affects job seekers by preventing employers from using this information to make hiring or compensation decisions. The bill amends Michigan's Fair Employment Practices law to explicitly ban employers from requesting or seeking such details, replacing a prior prohibition on wage history inquiries. It aims to reduce pay discrimination by ensuring compensation decisions are based on current job requirements, not past earnings or credit data. The law would apply to all employers covered under Michigan's wage and employment protections.
Senate Bill 297 aims to protect registered professional nurses by ensuring their refusal to work beyond their predetermined schedule is not grounds for administrative action. It also establishes penalties for hospitals that violate rules related to mandatory overtime for nurses, as referenced in section 21526. Hospitals found in violation could face an administrative fine of $1,000 for each instance, along with other potential sanctions. This bill amends the Public Health Code to implement these provisions, directly affecting nurses and hospitals.
Senate Bill 296 prohibits hospitals from requiring registered professional nurses to work beyond their regularly scheduled, on-call, or voluntarily agreed-upon hours. It mandates that nurses working 12 or more consecutive hours receive 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time immediately afterward. Exceptions to this prohibition include declared states of emergency, mass casualty incidents, certain patient-care procedures, and situations where an oncoming nurse is unexpectedly absent. The bill also protects nurses from retaliation if they refuse work assignments that exceed these limits and requires hospitals to post notices informing nurses of these provisions.
House Bill 4492 proposes changes to the state's wage act regarding employees who receive gratuities, commonly known as tipped employees. Currently, employees can voluntarily share their tips with co-workers. This bill would allow employers to require tipped employees to share their gratuities with other employees, provided the initial tipped employee's gratuities still meet a specific wage threshold. This change directly affects employees who earn tips and their employers by altering the rules for gratuity distribution within a workplace.
HB 4933 would reduce licensing requirements for personnel agencies in Michigan by amending sections of the Occupational Code (MCL 339.303a and 339.411) and repealing specific existing rules. The bill directly affects employment and staffing agencies by removing current licensing mandates under Article 10 of the 1980 Occupational Code and part of a 1979 law (MCL 338.2227). Key provisions include eliminating the need for these agencies to obtain state licenses, streamlining their operations, and updating regulatory language to reflect current practices. This is a policy change focused on regulatory simplification for a specific sector of the workforce industry.
