Michigan Wage and Overtime Law

This page is devoted to Michigan* law. For information on Federal law or other states see our overtime page.

The Michigan Overtime law (called the Michigan Minimum Wage Law) mirrors the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in many ways. Just like the FLSA, the Michigan overtime law requires that non-exempt employees receive overtime pay equal to 1.5 x their regular hourly pay for any hours worked over 40 in a week (overtime). For more specifics about the Federal Law, please see our overtime and wages page.

The Michigan law does have some significant differences from the Federal law, however. Under the Michigan law, a person may only be entitled to overtime pay if the employer has more than 2 or more employees. (The Federal Law requires that the employer have a gross income of $500,000 irrespective of the number of employees.)

As discussed on our overtime page many employers try to avoid paying overtime by simply paying their employees a salary, even though the employees are working more than 40 hours in a week. In such cases, the employees are still entitled to overtime pay if they are non-exempt. The overtime wages are calculated by dividing the weekly salary by 40 (or a bi-monthly salary by 80) to get the regular hourly rate and then multiplying that by 1.5 to get the overtime rate.

Another difference between the Michigan law and Federal Law is the statute of limitations. The Michigan overtime law provides that unpaid overtime can still be collected up to three years from the date the pay was earned, while the Federal Overtime law is two years and up to three years if the employer was consciously and intentionally violating the overtime law. For this reason, finding a Michigan overtime lawyer or even a Detroit overtime lawyer is not required to be able to pursue your unpaid overtime claim.

Like the Federal Law, the Michigan overtime law also provides that where the employer’s failure to pay overtime is intentional, the employer can be required to pay an additional amount of money equal to the amount owed. This is known as liquidated damages and its intention is punish the employer.

Exemptions

The Michigan overtime law has the same major exemptions as the Federal overtime law. (An exempt employee is one who is not entitled to overtime pay because of what he does. See our overtime page for more information on Exempt v. Non-Exempt Employees.) The Michigan overtime law does cover a few employees the Federal law does not cover such including non-live-in caregivers.

Filing Both Michigan and Federal Law Claims

A person can file claims under both the Michigan overtime law and the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act at the same time. This may make sense where there are different pieces to the different laws that your overtime lawyer wants to take advantage of. The Federal Court will simply enforce both laws including their differences.

Michigan is divided into two Federal Court Districts. Cases from Eastern Michigan (from cities and townships, like Ann Arbor, Canton, Clinton, Dearborn, Detroit, Flint, Livonia, Macomb, Saginaw, Sterling Heights, and Warren, Michigan) would proceed in Federal Court in Detroit, Ann Arbor, or Flint, Michigan depending on the division. Cases from Western Michigan (from cities like Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Marquette, and Wyoming, Michigan) would proceed in Federal Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kalamazoo, Lansing, or Marquette, Michigan, again, depending on the division.

Retaliation

It is also illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee for asking for his overtime pay, for contacting an attorney, or even filing a claim. If you complain of not receiving overtime pay and your employer fires you, you have a claim for retaliation. This is a separate violation of the law and you should definitely consult an employment lawyer.

If you have been paid a salary when you should not be, if you have not been paid overtime, or have only been paid your regular wage for overtime hours, you may be entitled to more money. The overtime and wage laws are very complex, but our Michigan overtime lawyers at Maduff & Maduff understand them. We regularly handle cases in Michigan and look forward to helping you. Whether you are near Detroit (Wayne County Michigan or Oakland County Michigan), or across the state in Grand Rapids or Lansing or anyone in between, give us a call.

As your Iowa overtime lawyer we represent clients in a variety of areas including Sexual Orientation, Severance Agreements and Overtime.