Employee Handbook - Michigan

EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK

State of Michigan

[COMPANY LEGAL NAME]

Effective Date: [MM/DD/YYYY]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Handbook Status and Administration
2. Equal Employment and Accommodation
3. Wage, Hour, Payday, Break, and Youth-Employment Policies
4. Earned Sick Time and Other Protected Leave
5. Safety, Worker's Compensation, and Conduct
6. Technology, Privacy, Confidentiality, and Protected Activity
7. Attendance and Corrective Action
8. Separation of Employment
9. Administration and Acknowledgment

1. HANDBOOK STATUS AND ADMINISTRATION

1.1 Purpose and Scope

This Handbook states the general policies of [Company Legal Name] (the “Company”) for Employees working in Michigan. It must be completed for the Company's workforce, locations, industry, benefits, and any collective bargaining agreement before distribution.

1.2 Not a Contract; Employment Relationship

This Handbook is not an employment contract, a promise of employment for a fixed term, or a guarantee that any particular corrective-action step will be used. Unless a signed agreement, collective bargaining agreement, or applicable law provides otherwise, either the Employee or the Company may end employment at any time. Only [AUTHORIZED TITLE] may sign an agreement changing that relationship.

1.3 Reporting Channels and Anti-Retaliation

An Employee may report a concern orally or in writing to [SUPERVISOR], [HR CONTACT], or [ALTERNATE/ETHICS CONTACT], and may bypass anyone involved in the concern. The Company will respond promptly and impartially and prohibits retaliation for good-faith reports, accommodation requests, wage complaints, protected sick time or leave, jury service, safety reports, worker's compensation activity, participation in an investigation, or other legally protected conduct.

1.4 Definitions, Coverage, and Local-Law Review

“Employee” means an individual employed by the Company, whether full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal. A statute or benefit plan may use a different eligibility definition.

“Workweek” means the fixed seven-day period beginning at [DAY/TIME] and ending at [DAY/TIME] for payroll and overtime purposes.

Complete before issue:

• More than ten individuals worked for compensation in any week, or payroll exceeded ten Employees for twenty workweeks in the current or preceding year, for Earned Sick Time Act classification: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Two or more Employees age sixteen or older for Michigan minimum-wage coverage review: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Fifteen or more Employees for federal civil-rights and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act review: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Fifty or more Employees for FMLA review: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Employees under age eighteen: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Worker's compensation coverage secured or lawful exclusion confirmed: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Collective bargaining agreement applies: ☐ Yes ☐ No

Human Resources must separately review every municipal ordinance applicable to an Employee's work location. This state template does not substitute for a local overlay.

2. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT AND ACCOMMODATION

2.1 Equal Employment Opportunity

The Company prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy or a related medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, height, weight, marital status, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other status protected by Company policy or applicable law.

Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act expressly includes sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, treats pregnancy-related conditions as required by MCL 37.2202(1)(d), and defines race to include hair texture and protective hairstyles. Human Resources must apply the state, federal, and local rule that provides the applicable protection.

2.2 Complaint Procedure

Employees should report discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or an accommodation need to [HR CONTACT] or [ALTERNATE CONTACT]. Reports will be addressed promptly and as confidentially as reasonably possible. Employees may contact a government agency or pursue another protected remedy without first exhausting this internal process.

2.3 Disability and Genetic Information

The Company will provide disability accommodation when required by the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or other applicable law. It will not request a genetic test or genetic information as a condition of employment and will restrict access to genetic information as required by MCL 37.1202.

Michigan law may require a person alleging failure to accommodate to notify the employer in writing within 182 days after the need was or reasonably should have been known. The Company posts the notice required by MCL 37.1210(19), invites prompt requests to [HR CONTACT], and will not apply a state deadline where another controlling law provides greater protection.

2.4 Pregnancy, Childbirth, Religion, and Lactation Accommodation

The Company will engage in an appropriate interactive process and provide reasonable accommodation when required for pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, or religion. Under the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a covered employer will not require leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided.

For one year after a child's birth, the Company will provide reasonable break time whenever a covered Employee needs to express breast milk and a private place other than a bathroom, shielded from view and free from intrusion, as required by 29 U.S.C. § 218d. Time is paid when required because the Employee is not completely relieved of duty or another law or policy requires pay.

3. WAGE, HOUR, PAYDAY, BREAK, AND YOUTH-EMPLOYMENT POLICIES

3.1 Classification, Minimum Wage, and Overtime

Human Resources will classify workers based on actual duties and the working relationship, not labels alone. Salaried status by itself does not establish an overtime exemption.

Michigan's minimum wage is $13.73 per hour beginning January 1, 2026. The Company will pay the highest applicable federal, state, local, contractual, or Company rate. A tipped rate, 85% minor rate, training wage, or exemption may be used only after payroll and legal review of the current schedule and notice requirements.

Covered non-exempt Employees will receive one and one-half times the regular rate for hours worked over forty in a Workweek. Overtime should be approved in advance, but lack of approval does not permit unpaid work.

3.2 Timekeeping, Pay Schedule, Statements, and Deductions

Non-exempt Employees must accurately record all time worked, including authorized or unauthorized work before or after a shift, remote work, compensable travel, training, interrupted meals, and work communications. Working off the clock is prohibited, but all time actually worked must be recorded and paid.

The pay schedule is [WEEKLY / BIWEEKLY / SEMIMONTHLY / MONTHLY], and payday is [____]. Payroll will apply MCL 408.472's timing rules. Each payment will include a retainable statement identifying the pay period, hours where required, gross wages, and itemized deductions under MCL 408.479.

The Company will make deductions required or expressly permitted by law, a collective bargaining agreement, or valid written consent. A deduction benefiting the Company generally requires written consent for each affected wage payment, and deductions may not reduce pay below the applicable minimum wage. Payroll must separately review the limited overpayment-deduction procedure in MCL 408.477(4).

3.3 Meal and Rest Periods

Michigan does not generally require meal or rest periods for Employees age eighteen or older. The Company's adult policy is:

• Meal period: [PAID / UNPAID / LENGTH / ELIGIBILITY]
• Rest periods: [PAID / LENGTH / FREQUENCY]
• Reporting interrupted meals or missed breaks: [METHOD]

Short breaks provided by the Company will be treated as paid time when federal law requires. An unpaid meal period must be duty-free; any work during it must be reported and paid.

A minor may not work more than five continuous hours without an interval of at least thirty minutes for a meal and rest period under MCL 409.112. Human Resources must document the break and apply the current work-permit, registration, hour, supervision, and prohibited-occupation rules before employing anyone under eighteen.

3.4 Vacation and General PTO

The Company's written vacation or general PTO policy is:

• Accrual method: [____]
• Carryover, cap, or forfeiture rule: [____]
• Permitted uses: [____]
• Separation payout rule: [PAID / NOT PAID / CONDITIONS]
• Scheduling and approval rules: [____]

Michigan requires fringe benefits to be paid according to the written contract or written policy. Human Resources must administer vacation, PTO, holiday pay, bonuses, and authorized expenses consistently with MCL 408.473 and must not promise a benefit the Company does not intend to provide.

4. EARNED SICK TIME AND OTHER PROTECTED LEAVE

4.1 Michigan Earned Sick Time

The Earned Sick Time Act generally applies to a Michigan employer with one or more Employees, subject to statutory exclusions. A “small business” generally has ten or fewer individuals working for compensation during a week and loses that status if it maintained more than ten Employees on payroll for at least twenty workweeks in the current or preceding year.

Covered Employees accrue at least one hour of paid earned sick time for every thirty hours worked, excluding hours used as paid time off. A small-business Employee may use up to forty hours in the Company's twelve-month year; other covered Employees may use up to seventy-two hours. The Company uses [ACCRUAL / FULL FRONTLOAD / COMPLIANT PART-TIME FRONTLOAD].

Under an accrual method, unused time carries over up to forty hours for a small business and seventy-two hours for other employers, unless the Company selects a higher limit. A compliant frontload avoids statutory carryover and accrual tracking for the frontloaded period. An Employee hired after February 21, 2025 may be required to wait up to 120 calendar days after starting employment before using accrued time.

Earned sick time may be used for the Employee's or a family member's health needs; specified domestic-violence or sexual-assault needs; certain school or care meetings; and specified public-health closures or communicable-disease circumstances. Foreseeable use may require no more than seven days' advance notice. Unforeseeable use follows the written notice procedure provided at hire or when the policy takes effect.

The Company uses one-hour increments or the smallest increment used to account for other absences. Documentation may be required only for more than three consecutive days, must be provided within fifteen days after request, and will not delay leave. The Company will pay the Employee's out-of-pocket cost of required documentation and will not require diagnosis or violence details. Medical and domestic-violence information will be kept confidential.

Employees do not have to find a replacement worker. Protected time will not be counted under an absence policy, and retaliation is prohibited. Required notices and posters will be provided, and hours-worked and sick-time records will be retained for at least three years. Separation payout is not required by ESTA unless Company policy provides it; qualifying unused time is reinstated after rehire within two months unless it was paid out.

4.2 Federal Family and Medical Leave

The FMLA applies to private employers with fifty or more Employees in at least twenty workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year and to covered public employers. An Employee generally must have twelve months of service, 1,250 hours worked in the prior twelve months, and fifty Employees within seventy-five miles of the worksite.

Eligible Employees may receive up to twelve workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying family, medical, and military-exigency reasons and up to twenty-six workweeks in a single twelve-month period for qualifying military-caregiver leave. Health-benefit maintenance and restoration rights apply subject to the statute. A separate FMLA policy and required notices control administration.

4.3 Jury Service and Crime-Victim Court Attendance

The Company will not threaten, discharge, or discipline an Employee because the Employee is summoned for jury duty, serves, or has served. It will not require jury service plus work hours exceeding the Employee's normal day or extending beyond the normal quitting time unless the Employee voluntarily agrees or a collective bargaining agreement provides otherwise.

The Company will also protect a covered crime victim subpoenaed or requested by the prosecutor to attend court and a covered victim representative attending or desiring to attend court during the victim's testimony under MCL 780.762, 780.790, and 780.822. Jury and court leave is [PAID / UNPAID] under Company policy, subject to federal salary-basis rules.

4.4 Civil Air Patrol, Voting, and Military Service

An Employee trained and qualified for Civil Air Patrol emergency service should notify the Company within thirty days after hire or joining. The Company will not discriminate, discipline, or discharge because of membership or qualifying absence to respond to a governor- or presidentially declared emergency when the Employee gives as much notice as possible and supplies Civil Air Patrol verification. The leave may be unpaid under MCL 408.921.

Voting time under Company policy is [PAID / UNPAID / AMOUNT / NOTICE]. The Company will not discharge or threaten to discharge an Employee to influence the Employee's vote, as prohibited by MCL 168.931(1)(d).

The Company will provide nondiscrimination, benefit, leave, and reemployment rights required by USERRA and any applicable Michigan military law. Employees should provide advance notice of service when practicable and contact [HR CONTACT] regarding benefits and return-to-work procedures.

4.5 Company Leave and Coordination

Leaves will run concurrently only when permitted and properly designated. Paid-leave substitution will be handled under ESTA, FMLA, the governing plan or policy, and other applicable law rather than by a blanket exhaustion rule.

5. SAFETY, WORKER'S COMPENSATION, AND CONDUCT

5.1 Workplace Safety and Injury Reporting

Employees must follow safety rules, use required protective equipment, and promptly report hazards, injuries, and illnesses to [CONTACT]. The Company prohibits retaliation for a good-faith safety or injury report.

5.2 Worker's Compensation

The Company will secure worker's compensation coverage or maintain a lawful exclusion when required by the Worker's Disability Compensation Act. Employees should report a work-related injury or illness promptly to [CONTACT] so the Company can arrange medical care and meet carrier and agency reporting duties.

5.3 Drug, Alcohol, Violence, and Weapons

Reporting to work impaired in a manner that prevents safe performance is prohibited. Possession, use, sale, or distribution of an illegal drug or unauthorized alcohol during work or on Company property is prohibited. This Handbook alone does not establish a testing program; any testing policy must be separately drafted and reviewed. Threats, intimidation, and violence are prohibited. The weapons policy is [INSERT SEPARATELY REVIEWED POLICY].

6. TECHNOLOGY, PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND PROTECTED ACTIVITY

6.1 Company Systems and Monitoring

Company systems, accounts, networks, and devices are provided primarily for business use. Limited personal use is [PERMITTED / PROHIBITED]. Any access or monitoring will be disclosed and conducted only as permitted by law. Employees must protect credentials, report security incidents, follow retention rules, and avoid unlawful, harassing, or unsafe use.

6.2 Personal Internet Accounts

The Company will not request an Employee or applicant to grant access to, permit observation of, or disclose access information for a personal internet account, and will not penalize refusal, except where a specific statutory exception has been reviewed and documented. This policy does not prevent lawful review of public information or Company-provided accounts and systems.

6.3 Confidentiality and Lawful Disclosures

Employees must protect legitimate confidential and trade-secret information learned through work. This policy does not prohibit an Employee from reporting suspected unlawful conduct to a government agency or attorney, cooperating in an investigation, discussing wages or working conditions where protected, or engaging in other legally protected activity.

6.4 Separate Agreements

Any arbitration, restrictive-covenant, confidentiality, invention-assignment, commission, bonus, drug-testing, surveillance, or employment agreement must be separately drafted and reviewed under current Michigan and federal law. This Handbook itself does not impose those terms.

7. ATTENDANCE AND CORRECTIVE ACTION

7.1 Expected Conduct

Employees must perform assigned duties safely and honestly; comply with lawful policies; accurately record time and business records; protect Company, customer, and coworker property; avoid unlawful harassment, threats, or violence; and disclose actual conflicts of interest to [HR/COMPLIANCE].

7.2 Attendance and Call-In

Employees unable to report as scheduled must notify [CONTACT] by [METHOD] at least [____] before the shift when practicable. This policy will be administered consistently with ESTA, accommodation, FMLA, Civil Air Patrol, jury and victim-court protections, military service, worker's compensation, and other protected absences.

7.3 Corrective Action

The Company may use coaching, verbal warning, written warning, final warning, suspension, or termination. It may select or skip steps based on the circumstances. This policy does not create a contract or authorize action for a protected reason.

8. SEPARATION OF EMPLOYMENT

8.1 Notice and Return of Property

Employees are requested, but not required by this Handbook, to provide [____] days' resignation notice. At separation, Employees must return Company property and records. The Company will not deduct or set off disputed property damage, shortages, or other alleged debts from earned wages unless a specific deduction is permitted by MCL 408.477 and other applicable law.

8.2 Final Pay and Benefits

Payroll will determine and pay all wages earned and due promptly, applying MCL 408.475 and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity's published final-pay guidance. Vacation, PTO, holiday pay, commissions, bonuses, expenses, severance, and other fringe benefits will be handled under the governing written policy, plan, agreement, MCL 408.473, and applicable law.

Unused earned sick time is not paid at separation unless Company policy provides otherwise. Human Resources must apply ESTA's two-month rehire rule and any successor-employer rule.

9. ADMINISTRATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

9.1 Policy Administration

The Company may prospectively revise policies in writing, subject to applicable law, earned wages and leave, contracts, and collective bargaining agreements. If a policy conflicts with controlling law, the law controls and the policy will be administered as closely as possible to its lawful purpose.

9.2 No Mandatory Internal Exhaustion

Employees are encouraged to use internal reporting channels, but nothing in this Handbook requires an Employee to waive or delay a right to contact a government agency, file a charge, report a crime, seek emergency assistance, consult counsel, discuss wages or working conditions where protected, or pursue another protected remedy.

9.3 No Risk-Shifting Terms

This Handbook does not impose arbitration, a jury waiver, employee indemnity, a damages cap, attorney-fee shifting, an exclusive court forum, a pre-claim notice-and-cure period, a final-wage setoff, or a force-majeure excuse from wage, leave, safety, or insurance obligations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT

I, [EMPLOYEE NAME], acknowledge that I received the [Company Legal Name] Employee Handbook effective [MM/DD/YYYY] and understand that I am expected to follow its lawful policies. I understand that this acknowledgment and the Handbook are not employment contracts and do not promise employment for a fixed term.

Sources and References

• Michigan Legislature — Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act
• Michigan LEO — Minimum Wage and Overtime
• Michigan Legislature — Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Act
• Michigan LEO — Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits
• Michigan Legislature — Earned Sick Time Act
• Michigan LEO — Earned Sick Time Act
• Michigan Legislature — Youth Employment Standards Act
• Michigan LEO — Breaks, Meal, and Rest Periods
• Michigan Legislature — Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, employment practices
• Michigan Legislature — Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act, accommodation notice
• Michigan Department of Civil Rights — Jurisdiction
• Michigan Legislature — Jury-service employment protection
• Michigan Legislature — Crime-victim court-attendance protection
• Michigan Legislature — Civil Air Patrol employment protection
• Michigan Legislature — Election-law protection against employer vote coercion
• Michigan Legislature — Internet Privacy Protection Act, employer duties
• Michigan LEO — Worker's compensation insurance requirements
• U.S. Department of Labor — Family and Medical Leave Act
• U.S. Department of Labor — Pump at Work
• U.S. Department of Labor — USERRA