Both Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and business groups have expressed concern about a hike to the state's minimum wage slated for February, but the issue — and the underlying "adopt and amend" legislative maneuver that thrust it into action — appears unlikely to be on tap for the outgoing Legislature's lame-duck session.

Michigan is slated for two changes to its wage laws on Feb. 19 — the state’s minimum wage will rise to $15 per hour, and the state will eliminate its tipped minimum wage, the below-standard wage paid to workers hourly who are expected to make up the difference in tips.

Prompting this change is a July ruling from Court of Claims Judge Douglas Shapiro. Shapiro ruled the Michigan Legislature acted unconstitutionally in 2018 when it adopted legislation created through a petition initiative originally intended to enact the wage changes, but in the same session amended the language to put in lower wage thresholds that increased the minimum wage to $12.05 by 2030 instead of 2022 and kept the tipped minimum wage at 38% of the standard one. He stayed the ruling until Feb. 19 to give employers time to implement the changes.

The looming change is a sudden jump from the state's current hourly minimum wage of $9.87 per hour and $3.75 per hour for tipped workers.

Whitmer said she’s heard serious concerns from employers about the wage change and is supportive of lawmakers passing legislation — possibly as soon as the lame-duck session — to slow the pending increases down.

“I’m...

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