Michigan Minimum Wage 2026: $13.73 Per Hour, $15.00 in 2027

(1) Subject to the exceptions specified in this act, the minimum hourly wage rate is: (a) Beginning February 21, 2025, $12.48. (b) Beginning January 1, 2026, $13.73. (c) Beginning January 1, 2027, $15.00. (2) Every October beginning in October, 2027, the state treasurer shall calculate an adjusted minimum wage rate. The adjustment must increase the minimum wage by the rate of inflation. The state treasurer shall calculate the increase by multiplying the otherwise applicable minimum wage by the 12-month percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for the midwest region, CPI-U, or a successor index, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, based on the most recent 12-month period for which data are available. The state treasurer shall publish the adjusted minimum wage rate by November 1 of the year in which it is calculated. The adjusted minimum wage rate is effective beginning January 1 of the immediately succeeding year.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.mi.gov

(1) The minimum hourly wage rate of an employee must be established as provided for under subsection (2) if all of the following conditions are met: (a) The employee receives gratuities in the course of the employee's employment. (b) The gratuities described in subdivision (a) equal or exceed the difference between the minimum hourly wage rate established under subsection (2) and the minimum hourly wage established under section 4. (c) The gratuities are proven gratuities as indicated by the employee's declaration for purposes of the federal insurance contribution act, 26 USC 3101 to 3128. (d) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, the entirety of the gratuities are retained by the employee who receives them. This subdivision does not prohibit an employee from voluntarily sharing the employee's gratuities with another employee if the other employee is directly or indirectly part of the chain of service and the other employee's duties are not primarily managerial or supervisory. (e) The employee's employer informed the employee of the provisions of this section, in writing, at or before the time of hire, and the employee gave written consent.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.mi.gov

(1) An employer may pay a new employee who is less than 20 years of age a training hourly wage of $4.25 for the first 90 days of that employee's employment. The hourly wage authorized under this subsection is in lieu of the minimum hourly wage otherwise prescribed by this act. (2) Except as provided in subsection (1), the minimum hourly wage for an employee who is less than 18 years of age is 85% of the general minimum hourly wage established in section 4. (3) An employer shall not displace an employee to hire an individual at the hourly wage authorized under this section. As used in this subsection, "displace" includes termination of employment or any reduction of hours, wages, or employment benefits. (4) A person who violates subsection (3) is subject to a civil fine of not more than $1,000.00.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.mi.gov

(1) If an employer violates this act, the employee affected by the violation, at any time within 3 years, may do any of the following: (a) Bring a civil action for the recovery of the difference between the amount paid and the amount that, but for the violation, would have been paid the employee under this act and an equal additional amount as liquidated damages together with costs and reasonable attorney fees as are allowed by the court. (b) File a claim with the director who shall investigate the claim. (2) If the director determines there is reasonable cause to believe that the employer has violated this act and the director is subsequently unable to obtain voluntary compliance by the employer within a reasonable period of time, the director shall bring a civil action under subsection (1)(a). The director may investigate and file a civil action under subsection (1)(a) on behalf of all employees of that employer who are similarly situated at the same work site and who have not brought a civil action under subsection (1)(a). A contract or agreement between the employer and the employee or any acceptance of a lesser wage by the employee is not a bar to the action.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.mi.gov

A local governmental body shall not adopt, enforce, or administer an ordinance, local policy, or local resolution requiring an employer to pay to an employee a wage higher than the state minimum hourly wage rate determined under section 4 of the workforce opportunity wage act, 2014 PA 138, MCL 408.414, or, if applicable to the employer, the minimum wage provisions of the fair labor standards act of 1938, 29 USC 201 to 219, unless those federal minimum wage provisions would result in a lower minimum hourly wage than provided under state law.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.mi.gov

As used in this act: (a) "Commissioner" or "director" means the director of the department of labor and economic opportunity. (b) "Employ" means to engage, suffer, or permit to work. (c) "Employee" means an individual not less than 16 years of age employed by an employer on the premises of the employer or at a fixed site designated by the employer, and includes a minor employed subject to section 15(1) of the youth employment standards act, 1978 PA 90, MCL 409.115. (d) "Employer" means a person, firm, or corporation, including this state and political subdivisions, agencies, and instrumentalities of this state, and a person acting in the interest of the employer, that employs 2 or more employees at any 1 time within a calendar year. An employer is subject to this act during the remainder of that calendar year. Except as specifically provided in the franchise agreement, as between a franchisee and franchisor, the franchisee is considered the sole employer of workers for whom the franchisee provides a benefit plan or pays wages.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.mi.gov

This act shall be known and may be cited as the "improved workforce opportunity wage act".

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.mi.gov

On petition of a party in interest or on his or her own initiative, the commissioner shall establish a suitable scale of rates for apprentices, learners, and persons with physical or mental disabilities who are clearly unable to meet normal production standards. The rates established under this section may be less than the regular minimum wage rate for workers who are experienced and who are not disabled.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.mi.gov

(1) This act does not apply to an employer that is subject to the minimum wage provisions of the fair labor standards act of 1938, 29 USC 201 to 219, unless the application of those federal minimum wage provisions to the employer would result in a lower minimum hourly wage than provided under this act. If an employer is subject to this act only by application of this subsection, this act does not apply to the employer's employee who is exempt from the minimum wage requirements of the fair labor standards act of 1938, 29 USC 201 to 219. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an employee must be paid in accordance with the minimum wage and overtime compensation requirements of sections 4 and 4a if the employee meets either of the following conditions: (a) The employee is employed in domestic service employment to provide companionship services as that term is defined in 29 CFR 552.6 for individuals who, because of age or infirmity, are unable to care for themselves and is not a live-in domestic service employee as described in 29 CFR 552.102. (b) The employee is employed to provide childcare, but is not a live-in domestic service employee as described in 29 CFR 552.102.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.mi.gov

An employer that discharges or in any other manner discriminates against an employee because the employee has served or is about to serve on the wage deviation board or has testified or is about to testify before the board, or because the employer believes that the employee may serve on the board or may testify before the board or in any investigation under this act, and any person who violates any provision of this act or of any regulation or order issued under this act, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.mi.gov

Also relied on in: Michigan Whistleblower Laws: Protections and How to Report

Every employer shall pay to each of his employees who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, wages at the following rates: except as otherwise provided in this section, not less than— $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after May 25, 2007; $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day; if such employee is a home worker in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, not less than the minimum piece rate prescribed by regulation or order; or, if no such minimum piece rate is in effect, any piece rate adopted by such employer which shall yield, to the proportion or class of employees prescribed by regulation or order, not less than the applicable minimum hourly wage rate. Such minimum piece rates or employer piece rates shall be commensurate with, and shall be paid in lieu of, the minimum hourly wage rate applicable under the provisions of this section.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Ohio Debt Collection Laws: Garnishment Formula, the 6-Year Consumer Debt Rule, and Repossession, Federal Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 an Hour Since 2009, Minimum Wage by State 2026: All 50 States and DC

After the expiration of one hundred and twenty days from June 25, 1938, it shall be unlawful for any person— to transport, offer for transportation, ship, deliver, or sell in commerce, or to ship, deliver, or sell with knowledge that shipment or delivery or sale thereof in commerce is intended, any goods in the production of which any employee was employed in violation of section 206 or section 207 of this title, or in violation of any regulation or order of the Secretary issued under section 214 of this title; except that no provision of this chapter shall impose any liability upon any common carrier for the transportation in commerce in the regular course of its business of any goods not produced by such common carrier, and no provision of this chapter shall excuse any common carrier from its obligation to accept any goods for transportation; and except that any such transportation, offer, shipment, delivery, or sale of such goods by a purchaser who acquired them in good faith in reliance on written assurance from the producer that the goods were produced in compliance with the requirements of this chapter, and who acquired such goods for value without notice of any such…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Federal Whistleblower Laws: Protections and How to Report, Employer Threatening to Call Immigration? Your Rights in the U.S., Wage Theft in the U.S.: Your Rights Regardless of Immigration Status

Any person who willfully violates any of the provisions of section 215 of this title shall upon conviction thereof be subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, or to imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. No person shall be imprisoned under this subsection except for an offense committed after the conviction of such person for a prior offense under this subsection. Any employer who violates the provisions of section 206 or section 207 of this title shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid minimum wages, or their unpaid overtime compensation, as the case may be, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. Any employer who violates the provisions of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title shall be liable for such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to effectuate the purposes of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title, including without limitation employment, reinstatement, promotion, and the payment of wages lost and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-09-03 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Unpaid Wages: How to File a Claim and Recover What You're Owed, Independent Contractor vs. Employee: The IRS, DOL and ABC Tests, Alabama Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 Federal, No State Rate

No provision of this chapter or of any order thereunder shall excuse noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a minimum wage higher than the minimum wage established under this chapter or a maximum work week lower than the maximum workweek established under this chapter, and no provision of this chapter relating to the employment of child labor shall justify noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a higher standard than the standard established under this chapter. No provision of this chapter shall justify any employer in reducing a wage paid by him which is in excess of the applicable minimum wage under this chapter, or justify any employer in increasing hours of employment maintained by him which are shorter than the maximum hours applicable under this chapter.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Alaska Minimum Wage 2026: $14.00 an Hour, $15.00 in July 2027, Arizona Minimum Wage 2026: $15.15 Per Hour, $15.65 in 2027, Arkansas Minimum Wage 2026: $11.00 an Hour, Tip Credit Rules

Any action commenced on or after May 14, 1947, to enforce any cause of action for unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liquidated damages, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act 1  See References in Text note below.  — if the cause of action accrues on or after May 14, 1947 —may be commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, and every such action shall be forever barred unless commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, except that a cause of action arising out of a willful violation may be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued; if the cause of action accrued prior to May 14, 1947 —may be commenced within whichever of the following periods is the shorter: (1) two years after the cause of action accrued, or (2) the period prescribed by the applicable State statute of limitations; and, except as provided in paragraph (c), every such action shall be forever barred unless commenced within the shorter of such two periods; if the cause of action accrued prior to May 14, 1947, the action shall not be barred by paragraph (b)…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Colorado Minimum Wage 2026: $15.16, $15.71 in 2027, Connecticut Minimum Wage 2026: $16.94 an Hour ($17.48 in 2027), Georgia Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 Federal, $5.15 State Rate