The new year brought a pay increase for Michigan’s lowest-paid workers and on Jan. 1, 2026, the minimum wage in the state of Michigan rose from $12.48 to $13.73 thanks to the Michigan Wage Act.
This is the latest of the scheduled pay increases under the Michigan Workforce Opportunity Wage Act, which was brought into action in 2018. This act is scheduled to continue to raise Michigan’s minimum wage to $15.00 on Jan. 1, 2027.
This act also mandates that in every October, starting in 2027, the state treasurer will calculate a new minimum wage for the following year based on the current inflation rates. These raises aim to help the minimum wage worker combat inflation.
The Michigan Workforce Opportunity Act was first created in 2018 but faced years of legal challenges and wasn’t legislated until 2025 under the name The Improved Michigan Workforce Act. This act became effective on Feb. 25, 2025 and required employers to raise minimum wage accordingly or be subject to consequences like civil fines and even legal action.
This pay increase has also affected students who work on campus. Many student job positions, like dining staff and those in service roles, will see a pay bump, increasing weekly pay for those who can only work limited hours during the semester.
In addition to raising the state’s minimum wage, this act also lays firm rules for minimum wage overtime compensation and raises the wage of employees who are under 18 or have tip-based wages, tying their pay closer to the current minimum wage.
Unfortunately, future raises are not guaranteed. The act also states that the future increases in wages past Feb. 1, 2027, will only happen if Michigan’s unemployment rate is lower than 8.5%, a statistic determined by the Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor.
This increase in wages will positively benefit employees but may worry some small businesses about higher operating costs. Fortunately, a 2024 study done by Carnegie Mellon and the University of Michigan has shown that a rise in minimum wage has no significant impact on independent businesses.
Still, businesses must compensate by paying higher wages, with many choosing to lower workers’ hours or just absorb the cost.
The current operator of Quinn’s music store in Big Rapids, Budd Greenman, expressed little worry of rising operation costs but was extremely sympathetic toward the raise in minimum wage, showing how local and small business owners support this pay raise.
“The thing is with the minimum wage is that it has not been a living wage for a long time and it needed to increase,” Greenman said.
For Ferris students and low-wage employees across Michigan, these wage raises may help provide relief for recent inflation and spikes in the cost of things like groceries and rent. Many students rely on minimum wage jobs to support themselves through college, meaning this raise will help students overcome rising prices.
Some Ferris students like Information Security Intelligence senior Jack Pfleghaar working campus jobs have already started to notice this raise in pay. He is a teaching assistant for multiple courses in his major and has spoken positively about the changes even if they are small.
“My take-home used to be roughly $7 an hour, and now it feels closer to $10,” Pfleghaar said. “It’s only a light increase, but it still helps while being in college.”
Other Ferris student employees, like sophomore Kate Ritter, who is studying Public Relation’s and works in admissions, have yet to see any change in pay but “anticipate feeling the effects of it because it’s a pretty big change.”
Ritter also adds “I think that it’s still going to be tight because of the way prices of everything are going up” and when asked how she was going to enjoy this pay increase ritter stated she “might get a pig… still up in the air”
Whether working on campus or anywhere else, this raise in minimum wage will affect all Michiganders and put more money in the pockets of people who are paid the least. This act and the steps it will take are a strong tool to help defend all minimum wage employees in Michigan from rising inflation and the everyday cost of living.