persons who become sick or who care for others & THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC

SCROLL DOWN for information concerning the following issues:

  • covid-19 employment rights law

  • PAID SICK LEAVE

  • TAKING CARE OF FAMILY MEMBERS

  • WORKERS COMPENSATION

  • TORT CLAIMS

Please be aware that during the coming weeks, governmental offices and other offices will often be closed to the public. Therefore, reach out via telephone, websites, or email if at all possible.  Strict time limits exist for filing for benefits and filing any complaints, charges and otherwise asserting your rights.  Consult with the involved agency and/or an attorney as needed to ensure that all time limits are met and that your rights are protected. 

COVID-19 EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS LAW

Rights:

  • Several months after the onset of the pandemic, Michigan adopted a law that established minimum rights for employees working during the pandemic. The law applies retroactively to March 2020.

    • Most importantly, the statute prohibits discharging or discipling a person who contracts or is exposed to COVID-19 and stays home as required by guidelines. Additionally, the statute protects persons who report violations of COVID-19 rules and regulations, presumably to MIOSHA.

    • Undermining the rules goal to protect workers, the statute provides immunity to employers who operate in compliance with the minimal existing guidance.

Filing a Complaint:

  • The statute is enforced by private lawsuits brought be persons whose rights have been violated. Contact the Sugar Law Center or a private attorney if you believe that your rights have been violated by your employer.

Paid Sick Leave

rights

  • Michigan’s Paid Medical Leave Act generally requires that your employer provide hourly employees with 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 35 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year. (See notes below).

    • Michigan’s law permits paid leave for ‘preventative care’ as well as for illness, diagnosis, and treatment of any illness.

    • Another important part of Michigan’s law likely applies during the present COVID-19 pandemic. Workers whose workplace is closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency are entitled to use their paid leave during the closure.

    • For more information on Michigan’s law, see the a Q&A sheet prepared by the the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth. Click here for a copy of the Q&A sheet in English and click here para una copia en Español

      and here for a copy in Arabic (بالعربية).

  • The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) expired on December 31, 2020. A new paid sick leave bill (Healthy Families First Act) has been unable to pass in the U.S. Senate. As a result, there is no longer is any federal law that requires paid sick leave to persons who contract COVID-19.

FILING A COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS:

  • First make the request for paid sick leave to your employer.

  • If your employer denies the request and you believe that they are in violation of the federal EPSLA law or Michigan’s law, then file a complaint with the appropriate agency.

    • For violations of the federal EPSLA, CALL the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, WAGE & HOUR DIVISION at 1-866-487-9243 for information or to file a complaint.

    • For violations of Michigan’s law, a complaint may be filed ONLINE at the MICHIGAN WAGE & HOUR DIVISION’s website.  Click here to file a complaint ONLINE. Using the online form, complaints may also be MAILED, EMAILED, OR FAXED to:

      Wage and Hour Division

      PO Box 30476

      Lansing, MI 48909-7976

      Fax: (517) 763-0110

      Email: whclaim@michigan.gov

HOTLINE EN ESPAÑOL

  • The Michigan Immigrant Rights Coalition and Farmworker Legal Services in Michigan maintain a bilingual hotline to answer questions regarding farmworker and immigrant workers’ legal rights. Call 1-800-968-4046.

La Coalición de Derechos de Inmigrantes de Michigan y los Servicios Legales para Trabajadores Agrícolas en Michigan mantienen una línea directa bilingüe para responder preguntas sobre los derechos legales de los trabajadores inmigrantes y trabajadores agrícolas. Llame al 1-800-968-4046.

PERSONS OUTSIDE OF MICHIGAN

Persons in every state are covered by the federal law (the EPSLA). However, not all states have paid sick leave laws. However, in recent years workers’ rights advocates have been successful in passing state and local laws in many places.   Click here for a listing of state and local governments that have adopted paid sick day laws.  Contact governmental agencies in those locations for more information on how those laws are enforced.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Notes

  • The law took effect on April 1 and is not retroactive. The law only applies to companies with fewer than 500 employees and small employers of 50 less workers can request an exemption if the requested leave would impact the viability of the business.

  • Michigan’s law applies to companies with 50 or more employers and covers all illnesses.

PLAY VIDEO!

(Made possible by funding from the Michigan State Bar Foundation)

 

Care for Family Members

Rights

  • The EPLSA (see above) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) both expired on December 31, 2020. The majority in the U.S. Senate refused to consider any extention or alternative bills. As a result, there is no federal law requirement paid family and medical leave.

  • The federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides for up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave if you have become ill from the virus or you are are taking care of family members who have a serious health condition, such as coronavirus.

  • Michigan’s Paid Medical Leave Act requires employers of 50 or more persons to provide hourly employees with paid leave to care for the illness or health condition of a family member.  Employees earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 35 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year.

FILING A COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS:

  • First make the request for family leave to your employer.

  • If your employer denies the request and you believe that the employer is in violation of the federal EPSLA, EFMLEA, or Michigan’s law, then file a complaint with the appropriate agency.

    • For violations of the federal EPSLA and the EFMLEA, CALL the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, WAGE & HOUR DIVISION at 1-866-487-9243 for information or to file a complaint.** 

    • For violations of the FMLA, click here to file a complaint ONLINE and call 1-866-487-9243 with any questions.

    • For violations of Michigan’s law, a complaint may be filed ONLINE at the MICHIGAN WAGE & HOUR DIVISION’s website.  Click here to file a complaint ONLINE. Using the online form, complaints may also be mailed, emailed, or faxed to:

      Wage and Hour Division

      PO Box 30476

      Lansing, MI 48909-7976

      Fax: (517) 763-0110

      Email: whclaim@michigan.gov

HOTLINE EN ESPAÑOL

  • The Michigan Immigrant Rights Coalition and Farmworker Legal Services in Michigan maintain a bilingual hotline to answer questions regarding farmworker and immigrant workers’ legal rights. Call 1-800-968-4046.

    La Coalición de Derechos de Inmigrantes de Michigan y los Servicios Legales para Trabajadores Agrícolas en Michigan mantienen una línea directa bilingüe para responder preguntas sobre los derechos legales de los trabajadores inmigrantes y trabajadores agrícolas. Llame al 1-800-968-4046.

PERSONS OUTSIDE OF MICHIGAN

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Notes

  • The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act’ and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act’s impacts are limited by their effective date. The Department of Labor has found that the law’s benefits will not be available to persons for paychecks lost before April 1. As a result, persons in states that felt the effects of the virus first - and often hardest - are less likely to receive all the benefits of the new law.

Workers Compensation

Rights

  • Michigan has adopted an emergency rule providing that first responders who contracted COVID-10 between March 30, 2020 and March 20, 2021 are presumed to have contracted the virus during the course of their work. Non-First Response Employees or First Response Employees that are exposed outside of this time-period, must prove that their claim arose from the job activities. This generally means, that individuals must show that the virus was contracted at work and that exposure was a natural consequence of their occupation.

    • A determination of whether you are covered by workers compensation laws highly depends on the facts of each case and therefore, we urge persons to consult with a qualified attorney to determine whether you may be entitled to benefits.

    • If you are covered by workers comp, medical benefits should be provided from the first day of treatment and wage-loss benefits begin after 7 days (the first 7 days will be paid retroactively if you are off work for 14 days or longer).  Wage loss benefits are paid in amount roughly equal to 80% of your after-tax weekly wages.

FILING A WORKERS COMPENSATION COMPLAINT:

  • First promptly report the injury or illness to your employer. 

  • Workers compensation complaints are filed with state agencies.  If your employer will not report the claim, you can report it yourself to MICHIGAN’S WORKERS DISABILITY COMPENSATION BUREAU.  If your employer disputes the claim, you can request a hearing or mediation, however we encourage all persons to consult with an attorney if the claim is disputed.  The MWDCB provides information regarding reporting your claim and requesting a hearing.  Click here for more information from the MWDCB. 

HOTLINE EN ESPAÑOL

  • The Michigan Immigrant Rights Coalition and Farmworker Legal Services in Michigan maintain a bilingual hotline to answer questions regarding farmworker and immigrant workers’ legal rights. Call 1-800-968-4046.

    La Coalición de Derechos de Inmigrantes de Michigan y los Servicios Legales para Trabajadores Agrícolas en Michigan mantienen una línea directa bilingüe para responder preguntas sobre los derechos legales de los trabajadores inmigrantes y trabajadores agrícolas. Llame al 1-800-968-4046.

PERSONS OUTSIDE OF MICHIGAN

  • Workers compensation laws are regulated  by each state and requirements vary between the states.  Texas is the only state that does not require employers to carry workers compensation insurance. Click here for a listing of state a workers compensation agencies.  Contact the agency for more information on workers compensation requirements and benefits in your state.

TORT claims

(when the virus is transmitted from the workplace to family members or others)

  • In most cases, workers compensation law prevents employees from bringing common law tort claims agains their employers when workers are harmed by their employer’s negligence. Since they are often not covered by their employer’s workers compensatation insurance, employees missclassified as independent contractors however, may have a common law tort claim when they contract COVID-19 as a result of their employer’s negligence.

  • For workers who remain on the job, significant issues arise concerning the potential transmission of the virus from the workplace to family members at home. Under circumstances where the employer fails to take reasonable steps to prevent the transmission of the virus in the workplace and the worker then transmits the virus to family members (or others), a potential tort claim against the employer exists for the family member who has become ill.* Generally, four factors would need to be shown for a potential claim:

    • First, that the employer was negligent in preventing the transmission of the virus in the workplace. In other words, it would need to been shown that the employer failed to take reasonable steps to prepare the workplace and to prevent transmission.

    • Second, that the worker caught the virus in the workplace (e.g. from a co-worker, customer, etc.)

    • Third, that, more likely than not, the worker would not have caught the virus if the employer had taken reasonable steps to prevent transmission; and

    • Fourth, that a family member (or other person) caught the virus from the worker.

Additional facts would need to be shown, but if these three facts exist, you should consult with a competent tort attorney for more information concerning your rights.

FILING A COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS:

  • Tort claims are made in a lawsuit filed in state or federal court. Consult with an attorney for further information.

Notes:

  • The worker’s remedy and the remedy of family members/others are different. The worker is required to proceed through workers compensation and is generally barred from bringing a tort claim against their employer. Family members and others generally would not be eligible to recover workers compensation benefits,, but would be permitted to bring a tort claim in court.