1. Earned Sick Time Act: Deadline for Small Businesses* is Approaching

*Under the Earned Sick Time Act an employer is considered a "small business” if it employs 10 or fewer employees. This includes full-time, part-time, and temporary employees including those provided through a temporary service or staffing agency or similar entity. 

Please note that there is an important deadline approaching for all “small businesses” to implement and comply with Michigan’s new Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA) and minimum wage laws. By October 1, 2025, all small businesses must also be in compliance (large employers had to be in compliance beginning February 21, 2025). Please click HERE to go to Michigan’s Dept. of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Wage and Hour Division website dedicated to the ESTA. On this site you will find:

  • A webinar recording explaining the ESTA
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – in English, Spanish, and Arabic
  • Posting Requirements – ESTA required posters in English, Spanish, and Arabic
  • A brochure providing an Overview of the ESTA

MNLA has established a relationship with the Wage and Hour Office and has been able to get answers to questions that are specific to our industry. If you have questions that you aren’t able to find answers to on their website, please email Amy Upton at Amy@mnla.org or call (517) 331-8896.
 

2. Attention: Nursery and Greenhouse Growers—Your Input is Needed by August 29!

A message from the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI):

We’re calling on nursery and greenhouse growers to make their voices heard.

The IR-4 Environmental Horticulture Program has launched a new process to determine national research priorities—and your input is critical to ensuring that the unique needs of our industry are addressed.

Right now, 75% of responses are from cut flower growers. If you grow nursery or greenhouse ornamental crops, your input is at risk of being underrepresented. This is your chance to tell IR-4 what pest, disease, and weed challenges you’re facing—and where the current tools are falling short. If we want the needs of our industry to be prioritized, we have to speak up.

This quick survey helps IR-4 identify pest, disease, and weed management gaps—and guides the research that delivers real-world solutions to growers like you. Take the survey today: Complete the Grower Survey.

And don’t stop there—join IR-4 in person at the upcoming Priority Setting Workshop in Kansas City. This is where decisions are made about which issues get researched over the next two years. Workshop Details

With a brand-new team in place, this is a key moment for IR-4—and a chance for our industry to help shape its direction. Your voice matters. Let’s make sure it’s heard.