{"id":5340,"date":"2020-06-04T17:33:42","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T17:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/brinks\/?p=5340"},"modified":"2020-06-04T17:33:42","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T17:33:42","slug":"senators-brinks-and-geiss-introduce-legislation-to-support-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/brinks\/2020\/06\/04\/senators-brinks-and-geiss-introduce-legislation-to-support-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Senators Brinks and Geiss introduce legislation to support workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LANSING, Mich. \u2014 Sens. Winnie Brinks <\/strong>(D-Grand Rapids) and Erika Geiss<\/strong> (D-Taylor) today introduced a package of bills that would permit local communities to set their own standards for employee benefits, and for Michigan workers to earn paid leave to care for themselves and sick family members during a declared national, state and local emergency, such as a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate Bill 960<\/a> (Brinks) would repeal Public Act 105 of 2015<\/a>. Colloquially named the ‘Death Star’ bill, Public Act 105 of 2015 limits the powers of local governments by prohibiting municipalities and counties from regulating wages and benefits in their communities. This legislation was just one of several preemptive measures signed into law by then Gov. Rick Snyder to bind the hands of local units of government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in our system which have ignored the unique needs of individual communities,\u201d Sen. Brinks said. \u201cBy putting the power back in the hands of our localities, we are lifting unnecessary restrictions that have inhibited them from providing desperately needed health and safety protections for workers and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate Bill 961<\/a> (Geiss) would allow workers to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, limited to 40 hours per year, with excess earned leave time to be used as unpaid sick time. The earned sick leave can be used for personal mental or physical illness, or to care for a child or another family member \u2014 whether biologically related or someone whose relationship is equivalent to that of a familial relationship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMichigan families deserve the right to earn paid sick leave for themselves and for their families \u2014 it\u2019s not just a matter of personal health, it\u2019s a matter of public health and safety,\u201d Sen. Geiss said. \u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic has made it even more clear that workers should be able to \u2014 and need to \u2014 take time off from work not only to recover from their illness, but to prevent the spread of it throughout their workplace and to their co-workers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill includes a special provision for national, state and local emergencies. Workers may use earned sick leave if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n