October 2006 Updates
Document Actions
October 2006 Updates
Michigan’s Minimum Wage Increases to $6.95 Beginning October 1, 2006
Starting October 1, 2006, workers in Michigan are entitled to receive $6.95 per hour, an increase from the previous wage of $5.15 per hour.
All adult farmworkers should be receiving the new state minimum wage. Even farmworkers who are paid piece rate (by the pound, by the bushel, etc.) should receive at least the equivalent of $6.95 per hour based on the number of hours they work. For this reason, it is very important that piece rate workers keep track of the number of hours they work each week. Employers are also required by law to keep track of all hours worked for piece rate workers.
Also beginning October 1, 2006, a worker who is 16 or 17 years old must be paid at least 85% of the minimum wage. This wage rate is $5.91 per hour for 16 and 17 year-olds.
On July 1, 2007, the Michigan minimum wage for adults will increase to $7.15 per hour. On July 1, 2008, the Michigan minimum wage will increase to $7.40 per hour.
Farmworkers in Michigan who have questions about the new state minimum wage should call Farmworker Legal Services or the State of Michigan Wage & Hour Division at (517) 335-0400.
FLS Sponsors Two Naturalization Clinics This Summer
Farmworker Legal Services organized two clinics at which pro bono attorneys represented low-income immigrants in applying for naturalization. The clinics were cosponsored by Justice For Our Neighbors of Grand Rapids, and the Diocese of Kalamazoo Immigration Assistance Program. The clinics received local and national media coverage.
Twenty-four attorneys participated, and fifty clients are receiving representation with these applications. The clinics were day-long events held at Immaculate Conception Church in Hartford, and First United Methodist Church in Holland.
Clients are already starting to receive citizenship interviews at the Detroit Immigration office. Many of the clients will not have to pass the English tests due to their age and amount of time that they have had their legal residency.
Recent Cases
Unpaid Wages
Three members of a farmworker family worked for a small grape grower. They were paid for the first three weeks of work that they did, but the grower refused to pay them for the fourth week because he said he never specifically asked them to do that work. That is not a valid legal reason for an employer to refuse to pay workers for work they have already done. FLS represented the farmworker family in a complaint to the State of Michigan Wage and Hour Division, and the workers were paid their wages.
Migrant Housing – Security Deposit
A group of nine farmworkers rented housing from an apple grower while they worked in blueberries for another grower. Each worker paid a $50 security deposit. When the workers moved out of the housing, their landlord refused to return their security deposits. The landlord agreed that the workers had not damaged the housing in any way, but he kept the deposit anyway because the workers did not stay to work for him during the apple season. That is not a valid legal justification for failure to return a rental security deposit. FLS and the Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project, Inc. represented the workers and each worker received twice the amount of the deposit – $100 – as required by state law.
Farmworker Social Security Benefits
An elderly United States Citizen farmworker and his wife were receiving RSDI (retirement) benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA), based on the farmworker's long work history and the Social Security taxes he paid. Three years ago, the farmworker was called in to an SSA office in Texas and told that another person claiming to be the farmworker had also filed for RSDI benefits. The farmworker produced his drivers license, birth certificate, and marriage certificate to prove his identity. He also made a long statement to the Social Security Administration about the details of his life, including all of the places that he could remember living and working.
In spite of this, the Social Security Administration chose to cut off his retirement benefits without any further process or notice. The SSA representative told him he was an "impostor" and that he could be sent to jail. He was too frightened to return to the Social Security Administration and was not given any opportunity to appeal, so he and his wife lived with almost no income and no medical coverage for years.
FLS represented the farmworker and obtained over $18,000 in unpaid Social Security benefits and restored Medicare coverage for the farmworker and his wife.
Summary of FLS services – For Legal Assistance Call Us Toll-Free at 1-800-968-4046
Our services are free to farmworkers and their families who fall within certain income limits. When we are unable to help someone, we refer them to programs or other attorneys that are able to assist them. We may be able to help with:
Employment
• Remember that Michigan’s minimum wage, even if a worker is paid piece-rate, is $6.95 per hour. Keep track of hours worked.
• Worker not receiving his or her pay, and End-Of-Season “bonus” issues
• Deductions from paychecks must be authorized by the worker or by law
Housing: Evictions, “lockouts,” utility shut-offs, and poor housing conditions
Public Benefits
• Child day care, Food stamps, Medicaid, and Unemployment for eligible immigrants and U.S. citizens, including children
• Effect of public benefits on immigration status
Immigration
• Filing family-based applications for migrant farmworkers and advising about immigration situations
• Unlicensed practice of law by “notarios”
• Victims of domestic violence
