Employment attorney Mark Smith is a shareholder at Grand Rapids’ Rhoades McKee law firm.
He says Michigan employers have been wrestling with how to manage the cost of increasing salaries for some workers since its first phase last July.
“Are we going to convert them to hourly employees and pay overtime, or cut the number of workers we have in salaried positions? How can we otherwise afford the increase in wages to this new level?”
Friday, a Texas judge ruled the change was done improperly and cannot be implemented, leaving salaries at the 2019 level of $35,568 – a ruling likely to be appealed but Smith says:
“With the forthcoming change in administration, the smart money is on the fact the Department of Labor will likely back away from pursuit of this rule and so in the foreseeable future, the minimum wage salary level will be this $35,000 number rather than a higher number.”
Smith says as of now, employers do not need to make changes for January 1st and shared what that may mean for employees.
“If they want a higher salary, they’re going to have to seek an employer who pays a higher salary rather than depend on the DOL or the courts to impose that higher salary on the employer.”
Mark Smith has filed a legal alert explaining current events that can be found here.
