In Michigan, the law requires that employers pay their employees their wages at specific times. When the wages and any unpaid overtime are not provided to the employee in a timely manner, it could be the basis for a wage claim. Understanding how the law views these issues is important when determining whether a violation has occurred.
Apart from employers who have their employees harvesting crops by hand, Michigan employers are required to pay employees at a certain time. These times must be: on or prior to the first day of each calendar month, the wages for the first 15 days of the previous month; on or prior to the 15th day of every calendar month if the wages were earned during the previous calendar month from the 16th day through the final day of the month.
The employer must pay every person who is taking part in any portion of the hand harvesting of crops the wages that were earned in a week on or prior to the second day after the work week unless there is a contract stipulating a different method of payment. If an employer has in place a regularly scheduled method of pay on a weekly or biweekly basis, it will be viewed as complying with the law in the following circumstances: if the wages are paid on the established payday; and if the payday comes about on or before the 14th day after the end of the work period. The employer who pays an employee monthly will be viewed as complying with the law if the employer provides payment on or prior to the first day of every calendar month and gives all wages that were earned for the previous month.
With overtime in December, the employer would comply with the law if the employee is paid after the 16th of the month if: the employees received all wages – except for overtime – for the month on or prior to the scheduled payday; and the overtime wages earned in December were paid on or before the next scheduled payday when the overtime would have been paid. The employer is, of course, allowed to pay employees more often.
The law of the state can be confusing when it comes to hourly pay and whether a wage claim is necessary. Having legal help with these issues of employee rights is key when deciding whether the employer has adhered to the law and if a legal filing is advisable to get what is owed.
Source: legislature.mi.gov, “408.472 — Payment of wages; time; regularly scheduled weekly or biweekly payday; monthly payday; overtime earnings during month of December; frequency of wage payments.,” accessed on Oct. 18, 2016