New law allows more flexibility in hours for Michigan car dealerships - WWMT-TV
LANSING, Mich. — New legislation signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer looks to provide more flexibility and reduced hours of operation for car dealerships and employees.
Under previous law, car dealers were required to be open to customers at least 30 hours per week, 52 weeks of the year.
“The reason for that is that we don’t want people opening up car dealerships, selling you a car that maybe is a defective car, and then closing up shop,” Sen. Kim LaSata, R-Coloma, who sponsored the bill, said. “That was the intent of the law but this is what we should be doing. Looking at laws and how can we change them to make them better.”
LaSata serves the 21st district of Berrien, Cass, and St. Joseph Counties.
Senate Bill 128 reduces the requirement from 52 weeks to 48 weeks and removes the hours of operation restrictions for the remaining four weeks of the year for Class A, new vehicle dealers, and Class B, used vehicle dealers.
The new law requires the business owner to notify the Secretary of State’s office of the hours of operations changes in advance to allow for adjustments in the department’s inspection schedule if needed.
The bill does not require businesses to reduce hours four weeks out of the year, but now provides the option to do so.
Chris Britton understands the impact of the new legislation firsthand. Britton is the executive director of the New Heights Christian Community Development Association.
One of his ministries, New Heights Auto Services, is a Class B dealership. New Heights Auto Services looks to help people gain and maintain employment through reliable transportation.
“We’re a really small enterprise,” Britton said. “It’s myself, I’m part-time, and we have three full-time staff at the garage.”
Britton was the first person to reach out to LaSata regarding concerns about the previous law.
With four total employees, Britton said he wanted to give his workers a break and close between Christmas and New Years last year, which is typically a slow time for them. But under the previous law, that was not possible.
“What we ended up doing is between the four of us, we each took a day between Christmas and New Years last year,” he said. “Someone basically had to go in and be in the office, be in the garage by themselves between Christmas and New YearsWas it the worst thing in the world? No, but it sure would’ve been nice to say you know what, we are shutting down operations for the week, go be with your families, go rest.”
Under state law, one of the stipulations of receiving a dealer's license is that each business will post their business hours. Failure to do so would result in not receiving a license or a license not being renewed.
Senate Bill 128 received bipartisan support and is expected to take effect on Dec. 14.
source: https://wwmt.com/news/local/new-law-allows-more-flexibility-in-hours-for-michigan-car-dealerships
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