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December 5, 2024

In this issue:

How Michigan's Earned Sick Time Act Will Impact the Agriculture Industry
Corporate Transparency Act Blocked by Nationwide Injunction Weeks Before Deadline
Year-End Checklist for Businesses
Password 123: How Secure is Your Farm's Data?
What Employers Need to Know Before 2025
Townships File Appeal Challenging PA 233, State Regulators' Control

How Michigan's Earned Sick Time Act Will Impact the Agriculture Industry

The Michigan Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA) was enacted following a 2024 Supreme Court ruling, compelling the implementation of 2018 ballot initiatives on minimum wage increases and paid sick leave. This Act, set to take effect on February 21, 2025, mandates that Michigan employers offer paid sick leave to all employees, including full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers, impacting every sector, including agriculture...

Corporate Transparency Act Blocked by Nationwide Injunction Weeks Before Deadline

J.V. Anderton, Amanda Dernovshek and Nick Stock

With only weeks remaining before a key filing deadline, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted a landmark ruling that brings immediate relief to small businesses across the nation.

The decision in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., et al. v. Garland, et al. now puts the future of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) up in the air. With this decision, which was issued on December 3, 2024 by Judge Amos L. Mazzant III, small businesses nationwide are no longer obligated to comply with burdensome reporting rules—at least for now.

Year-End Checklist for Businesses

Amanda J. Dernovshek, Taylor A. Gast
and Lindsey M. Mead

1. Schedule a meeting with your tax advisors.

There might be opportunities for last minute tax planning this year. Be sure to consult your tax advisors while you still have time to take action in 2024.

Confirm that your organization or your accountants have: (a) arranged and submitted all required returns, amendments, updates, renewals, reports, forms, statements and other documents to the Michigan Department of Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), and any other jurisdiction relevant to your organization; (b) paid all applicable federal, state, and local taxes, including corporate income, business, sales and use, severance, excise, and motor fuel taxes; and (c) prepared any additional filings that may be required to qualify for or maintain the corporation’s federal and/or state tax credits...

Password 123: How Secure is Your Farm's Data?

Original Article Featured in November 2023 issue of The Furrow, official publication of John Deere

The clock is ticking; it's just a matter of time before a cyberattack will cause a major disaster for a farm in North America. Dr. Ali Dehghantanha, Director of the University of Guelph's Cyber Science Lab (CSL) in Ontario, expects the first bad one will happen any time now at one of the large dairies in the United States. All their servers and automated systems will be locked down and encrypted. Unless they pay a ransom, or a cyber security company bails them out, they'll be milking, feeding, and watering manually.

"Cyber security is close to nonexistent in agriculture," Dehghantanha says. "It's not even on farmers' radar"...

What Employers Need to Know Before 2025

On September 18, members of our employment services practice group presented a 2024 Virtual Labor & Employment Law Update webinar to address recent amendments in the law including changes to sick leave & minimum wage requirements, status of noncompete agreements and other requirements businesses and employers need to know before 2025 arrives.

Below are video recording links from the webinar to view or share at your convenience. The first link is the full video in its entirety while the subsequent links have been broken up by topic:

2024 Labor and Employment Law Update (Full Video): Recent Developments that Employers Need to Know

Townships File Appeal Challenging Public Act 233, State Regulators' Control Over Energy Projects

More than 70 Michigan townships have filed an appeal challenging Public Act 233 of 2023, which gives state regulators the ability to site utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage facilities.

The order, scheduled to take effect Nov. 29, 2024, would transfer local siting control over to the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), a three-member group appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, removing elected township officials from the final decision-making process.

“We are deeply concerned that the MPSC’s ruling undermines the democratic process by removing the voices of local residents and local officials in decisions that directly impact their communities," said Michael Homier, chair of the Foster Swift Municipal Practice Group.

Foster Swift Collins & Smith, PC E-Newsletters are intended for general information for our clients and friends. This newsletter highlights specific areas of law and is not legal advice. The reader should consult an attorney to determine how this information applies to any specific situation.

IRS Circular 230 Notice: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication is not intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed in this communication.

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