Let’s treat Michigan workers as whole people with paid leave

We’re pleased to feature this guest blog by Lisa Sauvé, principal and co-founder of Synecdoche, lecturer at UM Taubman College and a board member of the Michigan League for Public Policy. A version of this column originally appeared in Michigan Advance.

Lisa Sauvé

As integral contributors to the state’s identity and economic advancement, Michigan’s workforce deserves not only recognition, but comprehensive support that acknowledges their multifaceted lives. Being a small business owner who started out my career as a single mom, that is something I fervently believe and it’s why I’m supportive of a paid family and medical leave policy for Michigan. 

I became a single mom to my kid, Amy, during my sophomore year of undergrad at Lawrence Technological University. After graduating in 2009 with a B.S. in architecture, finding a job in architecture that would meet my family needs didn’t exist. Fortunately, I found a project opportunity online and made the decision with my now-partner in life (and work), Adam, to launch our architecture studio, Synecdoche. At the start, we worked from our dining rooms and took on one small build a year while attending grad school and working other flexible paid gigs, but we have since grown to a team of five with locations in Ann Arbor and Detroit.

While I faced many challenges and had limited financial resources at the start of my career, I was able to forge my own path because I had people around me who supported and helped me press forward–from family and friends who were there for me in more ways than I can count to my grad school professor who let me bring my kid into the office during my days as a research assistant. Without that support from a community of people who treated me as the whole person that I was, my career would have surely stalled.

That’s the kind of support that helps build success and a guaranteed paid leave program in Michigan would do the same. It would be a monumental step forward in supporting all working Michiganders as whole people, especially those who may not have a community to help them like I did. And, for women who take on the childbearing role in families, it may mean the difference between them leaving the workforce after giving birth or staying on their chosen career paths.

A guaranteed paid leave program for Michigan makes a lot of sense from a business perspective, too. As a bootstrapped business, early investments in resources and people were limiting our ability to grow and make an impact. Only recently have we been able to implement a 12-week paid family leave policy in our studio, which will be utilized by one of our team members expecting a baby later this year. While I can’t speak for all businesses, I can say that our small business would welcome a formalized state policy to adhere to when it comes to paid leave, and I do believe that the funding for it could be structured in a way that works for everyone. 

I also think we need to look beyond just the cost of implementing a program like this, as guaranteed paid leave would provide real, quantifiable benefits to businesses, too. We only need to look to other states that have implemented paid leave laws to see that they have helped address the very real business costs of losing talent, attracting and training new employees, and grappling with the productivity challenges that go hand-in-hand with low employee morale. 

In our post-COVID world of remote and hybrid work options and more flexible schedules, we need to continue to think outside the box and find additional ways to make employees feel more cared for, secure and grounded in their workplaces. A holistic plan that connects flexible work options with other worker supports, like guaranteed paid leave, would help create a workforce that is happier, healthier and more stable.

The timing of this makes sense when we look at the bigger picture of Michigan’s population and economic challenges as well. As Michigan continues to work to find the upper competitive edge in attracting more people to Michigan and keeping more people–including young professionals–here, guaranteed paid leave should be a priority. In fact, according to a 2023 nationwide poll by Morning Consult, 60% of adults who planned to move in the next two years said they would be more likely to go somewhere with paid family and medical leave. 

And, according to a more recent statewide poll, a majority of likely Michigan voters support paid family and medical leave legislation that would “ensure all working people have access to at least 15 weeks of paid leave to bond with a new child, address a personal or family-related illness, or for a paid family leave plan.” According to the poll of 697 likely November 2024 General Election voters, almost two-thirds of respondents (63%) either strongly favor (45%) or somewhat favor (18%) a paid family leave policy. 

The bottom line is: guaranteed paid leave would provide the kind of support Michiganders need to balance their jobs with their personal lives, and businesses and the state economy would benefit too. The time is long overdue to make this happen for working Michiganders, and the governor has identified paid leave as one of her top policy priorities. But despite legislation being introduced by both the House and Senate over a year ago, there have been no hearings on the bills to date. 

Let’s break ground on paid leave so we can build a stronger foundation for Michigan’s workers and businesses.