Minimum Wage and Overtime Laws
Michigan employers can establish weekly, biweekly, or monthly paydays, but they must adhere to the schedule once it has been established. The minimum wage for employees 18 years of age in Michigan is $9.25 per hour. If the employee is 16 or 17 years old, the minimum wage is $7.86 per hour, and tipped employees, such as service workers, must be paid a minimum of $3.52 per hour when they are earning tips. Employers are required to follow these minimum wage laws if employers have 2 or more employees 16 years old and older. Federal, state, and local governments do not have to follow state minimum wage laws.
If an eligible employee works more than 40 hours in a single week, they will be entitled to 1.5 times their hourly pay rate. In Michigan, overtime benefits apply to those who work for employers that:
- produce goods for sale outside Michigan;
- have gross annual revenue more than $500,000;
- employ domestic service workers such as day workers, housekeepers, chauffeurs, cooks or full time babysitters;
- operate as a hospital or health care facility for the sick, aged, or mentally ill;
- operate as a pre-school, elementary or secondary school, or college;
- operate as an agricultural employer who employs 500 days of agricultural labor (in a quarter for the previous or current year);
- are federal, state, and local governments;
- employers with 2 or more employees 16 years and older.
Note that certain workers are exempt from receiving overtime pay, such as executives receiving a salary or elected officials. An experienced lawyer can examine your legal contract as an employee and help clarify any confusion you may have about your right to overtime in Michigan.
Wrongful Termination
Employees in Michigan work at will, which means an employee can generally be fired at any time for any reason or for no reason at all. However, there are some exceptions to the at-will rule.
You can sue for wrongful termination if your Michigan employer fires you:
- for discriminatory reasons,
- in violation of an employment contract, or
- in retaliation for exercising your rights.
In Michigan, an employment contract may be written, oral, or implied. In the first two situations, your employer could make an oral or written promise not to fire you for a certain period of time without good cause. In an implied contract, your employer must act in a way that creates a reasonable expectation that you would continue to be employed. For instance, if your employer told you that you wouldn't be fired as long as you performed well, you may have an implied contract. If you have an employment contract and your employer fires you without good cause, you have a legal claim for breach of contract by your employer.
Wiretapping
Any person who is present or not present during a private conversation and who willfully uses a device to eavesdrop on the conversation without the consent of all parties or employs or procures another person to do the same, is guilty of wiretapping. In Michigan, wiretapping is a felony punishable by up to 2 years in state prison and/or a fine of not more than $2,000.
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