April 21, 2015, Introduced by Reps. Durhal, Sarah Roberts, Derek Miller, Liberati, Darany, Faris, Chang, Pagan, Smiley, Greig, Hovey-Wright, Gay-Dagnogo, Banks, Love, Geiss, Moss, Irwin, Cochran, Townsend, Zemke, Hoadley, Brunner, Brinks, Dillon, LaVoy, Garrett, Wittenberg, Guerra, Driskell and Singh and referred to the Committee on Commerce and Trade.
A bill to amend 2014 PA 138, entitled
"Workforce opportunity wage act,"
by amending section 9 (MCL 408.419).
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 9. (1) If an employer violates this act, the employee
affected by the violation, at any time within 3 years, may do any
of the following:
(a) Bring a civil action for the recovery of the difference
between the amount paid and the amount that, but for the violation,
would have been paid the employee under this act and an equal
additional amount as liquidated damages together with costs and
reasonable attorney fees as are allowed by the court.
(b) File a claim with the commissioner who shall investigate
the claim.
(2) If the commissioner determines there is reasonable cause
to believe that the employer has violated this act and the
commissioner is subsequently unable to obtain voluntary compliance
by the employer within a reasonable period of time, the
commissioner shall bring a civil action under subsection (1)(a).
The
commissioner may investigate and file bring a civil action
under subsection (1)(a) on behalf of all employees of that employer
who are similarly situated at the same work site and who have not
brought a civil action under subsection (1)(a). A contract or
agreement between the employer and the employee or any acceptance
of a lesser wage by the employee is not a bar to the action.
(3) In addition to bearing liability for civil remedies
described in this section, an employer who fails to pay the minimum
hourly wage in violation of this act, or who violates a provision
of section 4a governing an employee's compensatory time, is subject
to a civil fine of not more than $1,000.00.
(4) An employer who violates section 13 may be subject to an
action to enforce rights and remedies under the Elliott-Larsen
civil rights act, 1976 PA 453, MCL 37.2101 to 37.2804, in addition
to any other liability for civil remedies and fines under this
section.