Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Michigan program

Paid time off for your child’s care (Earned Sick Time Act)

Michigan law lets eligible workers earn paid sick time that can cover a child’s illness.

What it is

Michigan law lets eligible workers earn paid sick time that can cover a child’s illness.

Earned sick time can cover appointments or care during your child’s illness. Your balance depends on hours worked and your employer’s system. The law bars retaliation for using protected sick time.

Eligibility rules
  • Almost all Michigan employees are covered, including part-time and salaried workers; federal employees and unpaid interns are not.
  • The small-employer line is 10 or fewer employees; 11 or more makes the employer larger when the statutory 20-workweek test in the current or preceding calendar year is met. The count includes the employer’s employees nationwide, including part-time and temporary employees, rather than just the Michigan worksite.
What you get
  • One paid sick hour earned for every 30 hours worked.
  • Up to 72 paid hours of use per year at larger employers, or 40 at small employers.
What the help covers
  • Under accrual, workers generally earn one paid hour for every 30 hours worked; annual use may be limited to 40 hours at a small employer or 72 at a larger one. An employer may instead frontload the required time, with special written arrangements for part-time estimates and adjustment. Carryover and recordkeeping differ by the method, and a more generous employer policy may provide more.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask HR for your earned sick-time balance, its written policy and the employer’s total employee count.
  2. Have the appointment dates ready and ask the clinic for a note if the policy requires one.

Your employer’s HR team; Michigan LEO Wage and Hour Division handles complaints · Official page ↗

If you decide to apply
  • A new employee may have to wait 120 days to use the time but earns it from day one. Give up to seven days’ notice for planned absences. After three days away the employer can ask for a note, at its own cost, but cannot ask for the diagnosis.
  • HR can explain how sick time is recorded when the same absence also qualifies for FMLA.
Good to know

The employer-size test counts employees nationwide. Your worksite’s headcount alone can give the wrong answer.

Other details
  • Michigan LEO handles wage-and-hour complaints about earned sick time.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“How much sick time could cover our child’s care, and what are the benefits or limits of using it alongside other leave? Could you help us check the policy before we request it?”

Why I’m asking: I want to use the paid hours available without misunderstanding our leave protections.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Ask HR in writing and keep the answer.

Your social worker

HR gives the balance and the headcount.

The care team

The clinic can write a note for appointments.

Who decides
Your employer; Michigan LEO handles complaints.
Ask HR
“How many earned sick time hours do I have, how many employees does the company have in total, and can this run alongside federal family leave?”

How to apply

First step: Ask HR for the usable balance, accrual or frontloading method and nationwide headcount.

  1. Ask HR in writing for your earned sick time balance and the employer’s exact headcount.
  2. Ask whether the employer is running the accrual method or frontloading.
  3. Ask HR how qualifying earned sick time overlaps FMLA and how the absence will be recorded.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask HR in writing for your accrued balance and the employer’s exact headcount.

What to gather

  • Your start date
  • Recent pay slips
  • The company’s total employee count

How long: Hours build as you work. Larger employers started February 21, 2025; small businesses October 1, 2025.

What a yes looks like

A written balance from HR and paid hours on your pay slip.

What a no looks like, and the next move

If HR refuses, you have three years to complain to Michigan LEO. Retaliation is prohibited.

Watch out

  • The line is 10 or fewer against 11 or more, not five. Ask HR for the exact headcount.
  • The count includes employees across the whole country, not just your site.
  • An applicable new-hire wait of up to 120 days delays use, not accrual; frontloaded time has different rules.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

One hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, with a yearly paid-use cap of 72 hours at larger employers and 40 at small ones.

  • $30 — Hours worked per hour of sick time earned
  • $72/year — Yearly paid-use cap an employer may set, 11 or more employees
  • $40/year — Yearly paid-use cap an employer may set, 10 or fewer employees
  • $10 — Employee headcount that divides the two caps
  • $120 — Longest wait a new hire can face under the accrual method

Legal protection: A parent can use earned sick time for a child’s illness · The child definition includes foster, step, legal ward and in loco parentis relationships · Retaliation is prohibited · Notice for foreseeable leave cannot be required more than seven days ahead

What it costs the family: None. Pay is the greater of your normal hourly or base wage and the Michigan minimum wage.

The eligibility facts, as published

Employer
ESTA covers Michigan employees of covered private and public employers, but not the United States government. Exclusions include workers covered by the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, unpaid interns or trainees, certain youth workers, and workers meeting the law’s strict self-scheduling exception. Collective-bargaining transition rules and the limited new-small-business deferral can also matter; HR should identify the actual exception rather than assume all part-time or salaried workers are excluded. The small-employer line is 10 or fewer employees; 11 or more makes the employer larger when the statutory 20-workweek test in the current or preceding calendar year is met. The count includes the employer’s employees nationwide, including part-time and temporary employees, rather than just the Michigan worksite.
Accrual
one hour for every 30 worked
Statute
Earned Sick Time Act

The trap: The dividing line is 10 or fewer employees against 11 or more, not the five that other states use. Our employer question cannot see that line, so a parent in the five-to-nineteen band has to ask HR for the exact headcount. The count includes employees across the United States and its territories.

Where I read this

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