HB-5900, As Passed House, April 22, 2008

SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 5900

     A bill to amend 1985 PA 87, entitled

"William Van Regenmorter crime victim's rights act,"

by amending the title and section 23 (MCL 780.773), the title as

amended by 1988 PA 22 and section 23 as amended by 1988 PA 21, and

by adding section 12a.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

TITLE

     An act to establish the rights of victims of crime and

juvenile offenses; to provide for certain procedures; to establish

certain immunities and duties; to limit convicted criminals from

deriving profit under certain circumstances; to prohibit certain

conduct of employers or employers' agents toward victims; to

require employers to provide unpaid leave to victims to attend

court proceedings; and to provide for penalties and remedies.

House Bill No. 5900 (H-1)as amended April 22, 2008

Sec. 12a. (1) An employee who is a victim is entitled to a

total of not more than 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-

month period to attend the trial or other court proceeding of the

defendant.

     (2) An employee shall provide his or her employer with all of

the following if requesting unpaid leave under this section:

     (a) Reasonable notice of the date, time, and anticipated

duration of the trial or court proceeding for which unpaid leave is

sought.

     (b) [A COPY OF THE NOTICE SENT TO THE VICTIM BY THE PROSECUTING

 ATTORNEY UNDER SECTION 6.

        ]

     (3) An employee who is granted unpaid leave under this section

shall provide his or her employer with a statement from the clerk

of the court in which the trial or court proceeding occurred

confirming the date and time that the employee attended the trial

or court proceeding. The statement required under this subsection

shall be in a form prescribed by the department of attorney

general.

     (4) An employer shall not discharge, demote, suspend,

retaliate against, or in any other manner discriminate against an

employee for, or prohibit or discourage an employee from,

requesting unpaid leave under this section. An employer who

violates this subsection is liable to an employee in a civil action

for all damages incurred, including reasonable attorney fees.

     (5) An employee who is a victim shall not lose seniority and

House Bill No. 5900 (H-1) as amended April 22, 2008

other rights and benefits that are determined by seniority for

using leave time to attend a trial or other court proceeding of the

defendant.

     (6) An employee may elect to use or an employer may require

the employee to use the employee's accrued paid vacation, personal

leave, or sick leave for any part of the leave provided under this

section.

     [(7) AN EMPLOYER MAY LIMIT THE LEAVE PROVIDED UNDER THIS ACT IF THE EMPLOYEE’S LEAVE WOULD CREATE AN UNDUE HARDSHIP TO THE EMPLOYER’S BUSINESS.

 (8)] An employer shall keep confidential the records relating

to an employee's leave under this section.

[(9)] As used in this section:

     (a) "Employee" means a person who [HAS BEEN EMPLOYED FOR AT

LEAST 12 MONTHS BY THE EMPLOYER WITH RESPECT TO WHOM LEAVE IS REQUESTED

AND HAS AT LEAST 1,250 HOURS OF SERVICE WITH SUCH EMPLOYER DURING THE

PREVIOUS 12-MONTH PERIOD.                      ] Employee includes a

person employed by this state or a political subdivision of this

state, except state classified civil service.

     (b) "Employer" means a person who has 25 or more employees.

Employer includes an agent of an employer in this state or a

political subdivision of this state.

     (c) "Undue hardship" means a significant difficulty or expense

to a business, taking into consideration the size of the employer's

business and the employer's critical need of the employee.

     Sec. 23. Nothing in this article shall be construed as

creating Except as provided in section 12a, this article does not

create a cause of action for money damages against the state, a

county, or a municipality or any of their its agencies, or

instrumentalities, or employees.

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect

unless all of the following bills of the 94th Legislature are

enacted into law:

     (a) House Bill No. 5901.

     (b) House Bill No. 5902.