Michigan Minimum Wage Unlikely To Increase Jan. 1

Michigan's scheduled minimum wage increase is unlikely to go into effect Jan. 1, according to the Michigan Bureau of Employment Relations, Wage and Hour Division.

The agency said the state's Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act of 2018 doesn't allow for scheduled minimum wage increases to take place when Michigan's annual unemployment rate for the preceding year is above 8.5 percent.

The current rate was expected to increase to $9.87 an hour.

The state’s 2020 annual unemployment rate, which is determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Labor, is calculated by using both average labor force and unemployment levels for January through December.

While Michigan’s October unemployment rate continued its downward trend and is 5.5 percent, the agency said the annual average from January through October currently sits at 10.2 percent and is highly unlikely to dip below the 8.5 percent threshold when BLS releases the final 2020 unemployment numbers for Michigan.

If the annual unemployment rate does not fall below 8.5 percent, officials said the state's minimum wage rate of $9.65 will continue while the 85 percent rate for minots will remain $8.20 an hour.

Tipped employees rates of pay will remain $3.67 an hour while the training wage of $4.25 an hour for newly hired employees age 16 and 17 for their first 90 days of employment remains unchanged.