Lansing, MI – The small business community in Michigan is taking issue with a false narrative being pushed in Lansing that small businesses don’t offer paid time off for their employees.
“It’s simply untrue that small businesses do not already offer paid time off for their employees – or worse, that they are unwilling to offer it,” said Brian Calley, CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan. “In fact, small businesses are known as generous employers who operate far more like a family unit than a corporation, offering flexibility and generosity in time off policies.”
Calley pointed to SBAM survey data showing that a strong majority of its membership already offers paid time off – and that most employees prefer wage increases over additional paid time off.
“Small businesses are adept at accommodating employees, which is a competitive advantage in the talent war. They are not opposed to the Earned Sick Time Act because it requires them to offer paid time off; their opposition is to a mandate written by special interest groups that requires strict adherence to a bureaucratic, one-size-fits-all structure.”
Each quarter, the Small Business Association of Michigan surveys its membership, and receives roughly 500 responses. The last quarter for which data is available, Q3 of 2024, demonstrated the following:
- 84 percent of small businesses surveyed already offer paid leave time, with 70 percent of those saying they offer 80 hours or more per year;
- 50 percent offer leave time as a combined PTO bank of sick time and vacation time, due to employee preference;
- When asked what employees desire most in terms of retention, 75% of those surveyed said higher compensation, with just 17% saying additional time off.
- To successfully attract new employees, 80 percent have increased wages, with 20 percent offering additional paid time off.
“We’re not surprised that those who wrote this law failed to consider the costly burden of rapid implementation, since it is nearly impossible to understand the extreme challenges of running a small business without actually having done it,” said Ginny Sherrow, co-founder and owner of Fenton Winery & Brewery. “As someone who lives it every day, I can tell you why the small business survival rate is so low, and that opposing small fixes to ESTA will absolutely be a contributing factor to more small business failures.”
SBAM members say one-size-fits-all, bureaucratic solutions won’t get the job done.
“To be successful in small business, you must be nimble in nature,” said Mark Ware, CEO of Mission Point Resort on Mackinac Island. “Particularly in an economically diverse state like Michigan, where we have massive seasonal swings, tourism as one of our top three industries and the constant back and forth of legislative leadership, we must be allowed to retain our flexibility if we are to have even a slim chance at survival past the enactment of ESTA.”