Bill
HB 5164
Requires Michigan call centers with 50+ employees to give 30-day notice before relocating or closing units, and publicizes listings with potential penalties.
Status: Passed both chambers and enrolled; vetoed by the Governor on January 17, 2025 (presented to Governor January 8, 2025).
Purpose
- To discourage Michigan-based call centers from relocating operations to foreign countries by (1) requiring notice to the state, (2) publicly listing employers that relocate, and (3) preventing listed businesses from receiving certain state economic development incentives.
Key provisions
- Creates the "Call Center Jobs Retention Act."
- Notice requirement: An employer must notify the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) at least 30 days before either:
- Relocating a call center from Michigan to a foreign country; or
- Relocating a facility or operating unit within a call center that comprises at least 30% of the call center’s total call volume (measured against the center’s average call volume during the immediately preceding 12 months).
- Coverage also includes closing a center or unit if the employer intends to contract the same services to a foreign provider.
- Threshold: “Employer” = person that employs 50 or more full‑ or part‑time individuals at a call center.
- Penalty: Failure to provide required notice is a civil violation subject to a fine up to $10,000. The county prosecutor or the Attorney General may seek collection; fines deposited in the state General Fund.
- Registry: Beginning six months after the bill’s effective date and then every six months, LEO must publish on its website a registry listing:
- Employer name
- Date of relocation/closing
- Number of jobs relocated or eliminated
- Location (city and country) of the relocated or new facility/unit
- Tie‑barred companion bill (HB 5165): Would amend the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) Act to require MSF agreements to include default/clawback provisions so that businesses newly listed on the registry during the term of an MSF agreement can be required to repay or be ineligible for incentives. HB 5165’s provisions are contingent on HB 5164.
Who would be affected
- Employers operating call centers in Michigan with ≥50 employees at the center.
- Call‑center workers whose jobs may be relocated.
- LEO and the Michigan Strategic Fund (administrative tasks to maintain the registry and enforce MSF conditions).
- Potentially firms seeking MSF funding if listed on the registry.
Fiscal and administrative impacts
- Modest additional administrative costs for LEO and MSF (staffing/IT to maintain the registry and include clawback language). Any fines collected would go to the General Fund. Potential clawbacks of MSF funds are possible but indeterminate.
Stakeholder positions (from committee records)
- Support: Communications Workers of America, Michigan AFL‑CIO, Utility Workers Union of America.
- Opposition/concerns: Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Michigan Manufacturers Association (concerns about market restrictions and trade implications).
Legislative timeline / outcome
- Passed the Legislature in late 2024 and was enrolled. Presented to the Governor 01/08/2025 and vetoed 01/17/2025.
- Governor’s veto message cited federal WARN Act coverage (60‑day notice for certain employers) and expressed concern about duplicative use of LEO resources.
Notes
- The bill’s effective provision, had it become law, would have taken effect 90 days after enactment; registry publication would begin six months after that effective date.
- HB 5165 is tied to HB 5164 and would not take effect independently.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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