Michigan has a new Earned Sick Time Act, which replaces Michigan’s current paid leave law, essentially requiring all Michigan employers to accrue 1 hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked by all employees (including exempt, non-exempt, temporary and part-time), beginning February 21, 2025, or later for union employees when their contract expires. Under the current law, only larger employers with 50 or more employees were affected.  Under the new law, for employers with fewer than 10 employees, the first 40 hours of sick time are paid, the remaining are unpaid.  For employers with 10 or more employees, all sick time is paid.  Employers can cap the amount used in any single year to 72 hours, but there is no limit to the amount of sick time that an employee can accrue during any given year.  Although employers can use existing paid benefit policies like PTO to comply with the Act’s new requirements, there is nothing specifically under the law to account for front-loading, something that most employers utilize to comply with the current paid medical leave benefits.  There is no limit to the amount of unused sick time an employee can carry over from year to year, but at least for now, there is no requirement in the law to pay employees for earned but unused sick time upon separation of employment.