Unlike This Year, Michigan’s Minimum Wage Will Increase in 2022

I thought it had been a while since I'd heard about minimum wage increasing in Michigan... yep, that's because we missed a year.

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Now, as of January 1, 2022 Michigan's hourly minimum wage rate will increase to $9.87 from the current $9.65... which is what should have happened at the beginning of this year, but 2021 was skipped because according to the State of Michigan, "the unemployment rate for 2020 exceeded 8.5%".

Are we in danger of that happening again? It doesn't sound like it. According to a release from the State of Michigan,

The Michigan Wage & Hour Division announced that while  the law does prohibit scheduled increases when the state's annual average unemployment rate for the preceding calendar year is above 8.5%, it is highly unlikely Michigan will exceed this threshold causing another delay as occurred in 2021.

The state's 2021 annual unemployment rate, which is determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Dept. of Labor, is calculated by using both average labor force and unemployment levels for January through December. The annual average unemployment rate for 2021 is expected to remain well below 8.5%.

So, as it stands, effective January 1, 2022:

• Michigan's minimum wage will increase to $9.87 an hour.
• The 85% rate for minors aged 16 and 17 increases to $8.39 an hour.
• Tipped employees rates of pay increases to $3.75 an hour.
• The training wage of $4.25 an hour for newly hired employees ages 16 to 19 for their first 90 days of employment remains unchanged.

The schedule and increases to Michigan's minimum wage were laid out in 2018's Improved Workforce Opportunity Act. The idea was introduced by a group of citizens who initiated a ballot proposal that would have increased minimum wage to $12 by the year 2022. Wood TV 8 reports that after criticism by business lobbyists, Michigan's Republican-led Legislature killed the proposal and instead introduced a gradual plan that would push back workers getting a base pay of $12.05 until 2030.