HB-5902, As Passed House, April 22, 2008

SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 5902

A bill to amend 1985 PA 87, entitled

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

by amending section 50 (MCL 780.800), as added by 1988 PA 22, and

by adding section 40a.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

Sec. 40a. (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.

House Bill No. 5902 (H-1) as amended April 22, 2008

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

prosecuting attorney UNDER SECTION 36.

]

(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

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.

House Bill No. 5902 (H-1) as amended April 22, 2008

(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.

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

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

Sec. 50. ~~Nothing in this article shall be construed as~~

~~creating~~ Except as provided in section 40a, 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,

instrumentalities, or employees.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect