Work · Pay transparency
Pay Transparency Law in Michigan
Whether an employer in Michigan must disclose the salary range, where it has to appear, who it covers, and what to do if a posting hides the pay. This is separate from your right to discuss wages with coworkers. Cited to the statute.
What the pay transparency law requires in Michigan
Who must disclose the range, where it has to appear, and the situations the rule does not reach.
Michigan’s pay-secrecy provision has been stable since 1982 and its preemption act since 2018, but bills on salary-history and posting mandates appear each session. Confirm the current text of MCL 408.483a and MCL 123.1384 before relying on this.
| What the law requires | What it means |
|---|---|
| No salary-range posting duty | No Michigan statute requires a pay range in a job advertisement, at any employer size. The two acts that could carry such a rule, the Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Act and the Workforce Opportunity Wage Act, were both walked section by section and neither contains a posting or pay-range provision. |
| Wage nondisclosure cannot be forced | MCL 408.483a(1)(a) makes it unlawful for an employer to require, as a condition of employment, that an employee not disclose his or her wages. This is a protection for existing employees, not a duty to publish anything. |
| No pay-secrecy waivers and no retaliation | MCL 408.483a(1)(b) forbids requiring an employee to sign a waiver purporting to deny the right to disclose wages, and (1)(c) forbids discharging, formally disciplining, or otherwise discriminating for job advancement against an employee who discloses his or her wages. |
| Cities cannot regulate hiring questions | MCL 123.1384 forbids a Michigan local government from adopting or enforcing any ordinance regulating information an employer must request, require, or exclude on an application or during the interview process. This is the broadest such preemption among Michigan’s neighbors, and it names the application and the interview in terms. |
| Where it does not apply | What it means |
|---|---|
| The wage-talk protection covers employees, not applicants | MCL 408.483a is about disclosure of an employee’s own wages. It creates no duty to tell a candidate the range or to answer if asked, so it is a speech protection rather than a recruitment rule. |
| Local criminal background checks tied to a license | MCL 123.1384 still allows a local ordinance requiring a criminal background check for an employee or potential employee in connection with receiving a license or permit from the local government. |
| Pre-2015 ordinances sit outside the act | The preemption applies to ordinances, local policies, and local resolutions adopted after December 31, 2014. An older local rule is neither validated nor voided by the act, and its fate depends on other law. |
| State agencies are different | Michigan Executive Directive 2019-10 bars state departments from asking applicants about salary history until a conditional offer is made, but that is state-government hiring policy, not a law binding private employers. |
| Another state’s posting law can still apply | A remote role that could be performed from a state with a posting law, such as California, New York, or Illinois, can trigger that state’s disclosure rule even when the employer is based in Michigan. |
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps if a job in Michigan hides the pay range. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- Do not expect a range on a Michigan posting
A Michigan employer breaks no state law by advertising a job with no salary information. If pay matters to you, raise it early in the process.
- Know you can talk pay with coworkers
MCL 408.483a protects your right to disclose your own wages, and an employer may not make nondisclosure a condition of the job or retaliate for it.
- Ask about pay directly
Since no rule forces disclosure to candidates, ask for the expected range for the role. The employer is not legally required to answer, but many will.
- Check another state’s law for remote roles
If the job is remote and could be performed from a posting-law state, that state’s rule may require a range regardless of the employer’s Michigan base.
If a posting omits a required pay range, the state labor department takes complaints and can explain how the rule is enforced and any penalty.
→ Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Wage and Hour DivisionThis is general legal information, not legal advice. Coverage turns on employer size and where the job can be performed, so confirm your situation against the statute.
What workers in Michigan get wrong about pay transparency
Michigan does not require a salary range in a job posting, and it does not ban salary-history questions by private employers, but it is not a blank slate either. The two acts that would carry a posting rule, the Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Act and the Workforce Opportunity Wage Act, were both read section by section and neither contains one. Where Michigan is distinctive is on two adjacent points. First, MCL 408.483a protects the conversation among employees. An employer may not require nondisclosure of wages as a condition of employment, may not force an employee to sign a waiver of that right, and may not discipline an employee who discloses his or her own pay. That is a pay-secrecy protection, and it is the single most commonly mis-cited provision in this area, because it is not a transparency mandate at all. Second, MCL 123.1384 stops Michigan cities from filling the gap. It is the only preemption among the neighboring states that names the application form and the interview process, so a Detroit or Grand Rapids salary-history ban aimed at private employers would run straight into it. State agencies are a separate story, covered by an executive directive rather than by law binding private employers. This is legal information, not legal advice.
Common questions
Does Michigan require salary ranges in job postings?
No. Michigan has no pay-transparency law, so a private employer is not required to put a salary range in a job posting. Disclosure is voluntary under state law.
Does Michigan ban salary-history questions?
Not for private employers. State departments are barred by Executive Directive 2019-10 from asking until a conditional offer, but that policy does not bind private employers.
Can I discuss my pay with coworkers in Michigan?
Yes. MCL 408.483a makes it unlawful for an employer to require nondisclosure of wages as a condition of employment, to force a waiver of that right, or to retaliate against an employee who discloses his or her wages.
Can a Michigan city ban salary-history questions?
No. MCL 123.1384 bars a local government from regulating information an employer may request on an application or during the interview process, which is the broadest such preemption in the region.
Could another state pay-transparency law apply to a Michigan job?
Yes. A remote role that could be performed from a state with a posting law, such as California or New York, can require the range even if the employer is based in Michigan.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.