When Is a Final Paycheck Due in Michigan?

Michigan LEO says an employee's final paycheck is generally due on the next scheduled payday. The amount must still be earned, due, and able to be determined. A dispute over the amount or contract terms may require legal review.

Can a Salaried Employee Receive Overtime?

Yes. A salary or job title alone does not decide whether an employee qualifies for overtime. The answer depends on coverage, actual duties, pay requirements, and specific legal exemptions.

How Long Do I Have to File an Unpaid-Wage Complaint?

There is no single deadline. A Michigan Act 390 wage complaint generally has a 12-month filing period. A Michigan minimum-wage or overtime claim can have a three-year period. A federal lawsuit generally has a two-year period, which can extend to three years for a willful violation. An Act 390 administrative retaliation complaint generally has a 30-day filing period.

Unpaid Wages in Michigan: What to Do

If your employer has not paid you, identify exactly what is missing: a paycheck, overtime, or an earned commission. Save records showing what you earned and what your employer paid. Act quickly because the deadline depends on the type of claim.

What Type of Pay Is Missing?

The type of missing pay determines what you should calculate and which complaint or lawsuit may apply.

Paycheck

Write down the pay period, the amount you expected, the amount you received, and every deduction. Compare those numbers with your pay stub and normal pay schedule.

If your employer made a deduction, ask for its reason and legal basis. MCL 408.477 generally requires an employee's full, free, and written consent. Exceptions apply when a deduction is required or allowed by law, a collective bargaining agreement, or the statute itself.

When employment ends, MCL 408.475 governs wages already earned and due. After an employee quits or is discharged, the employer must pay those wages as soon as it can determine the amount.

If the amount or timing is disputed, how employment ended and the compensation terms may affect what is due. Michigan's wage-payment law also sets regular pay schedules.

Overtime

Make a week-by-week record of your hours, regular rate, and pay received.

An exempt employee falls within a legal exception to overtime requirements. Under 29 U.S.C. Section 207, covered employees who are not exempt generally must receive overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek.

A salary or job title alone does not make an employee exempt. Compare your employer's explanation with your actual duties and how you are paid.

If you worked more than 40 hours without the required overtime, several filing routes may be possible. You may have a Michigan overtime complaint, a federal Department of Labor complaint, or a court claim.

The correct route can depend on your employer, your actual duties, your method of pay, and specific legal exceptions. Have those questions reviewed before filing if your employer disputes them.

Earned Commission

Find the compensation plan or contract that applied when each sale occurred. For each sale, record:

The sale date and customer
The expected commission
Any payment or delivery requirement
Any cancellation rule
Any chargeback, meaning a reversed commission

Michigan treats commissions as wages under MCL 408.471. However, the compensation terms and facts determine when a particular commission becomes earned.

Send your employer an itemized written request. Ask which compensation-plan term makes the commission unpaid or unearned.

An earned and due commission may support an Act 390 wage complaint or a contract claim in court. Legal review is especially useful when the employer disputes the compensation terms, the effect of termination, or whether the worker was legally an employee.

What Records Should I Save Before I Ask for Payment?

Save personal copies of every record you may lawfully access that shows your work, pay terms, amount earned, or amount paid.

You may send payroll or human resources a written request identifying the missing pay period and amount. Doing so is optional. It should not delay you while a filing deadline is running.

Save:

Pay stubs, wage statements, checks, direct-deposit records, and written explanations for deductions
Work schedules, time-clock entries, time sheets, and notes you made about your hours and meal breaks
Offer letters, compensation agreements, commission plans, and the versions in effect when you performed the work
Sales or customer records you are allowed to keep, including records showing credit, cancellation, delivery, or payment status
Emails, texts, and other messages about hours, pay, commission terms, missing amounts, or your employer's explanation

Do not alter any record. Do not take confidential, proprietary, customer, or employer material you have no right to keep.

Where Can a Michigan Employee File an Unpaid-Wage Complaint?

A Michigan employee may file with Michigan LEO, the U.S. Department of Labor, or a court. The correct route depends on the missing pay, the law covering the claim, and whether another case has already started.

Filing an Act 390 complaint may bar a separate lawsuit over the same wages. Do not assume you should file with both state and federal agencies. An agency complaint also does not always have to come before legal review.

Michigan LEO accepts wage and benefit complaints for unpaid wages and commissions. It separately accepts Michigan minimum-wage and overtime complaints.

The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division may handle covered federal minimum-wage or overtime complaints. Its worker complaint guidance explains what information to gather and how to contact the division.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not provide a collection process for ordinary promised wages or commissions above federal minimum requirements.

How Quickly Should I Act on Missing Pay?

Act as soon as possible. No single deadline applies to every unpaid-wage claim.

These examples cover different claims and filing routes. They do not calculate the deadline for a particular employee:

A Michigan Act 390 wage or fringe-benefit complaint generally must be filed within 12 months after the alleged violation under MCL 408.481.
A claim under Michigan's minimum-wage and overtime law can have a three-year filing period under MCL 408.939.
A federal lawsuit for unpaid minimum wages or overtime generally has a two-year filing period. That period can extend to three years for a willful violation under 29 U.S.C. Section 255.
A Michigan Act 390 administrative retaliation complaint generally must be filed within 30 days under MCL 408.483.

Other retaliation, contract, or court claims can follow different deadline rules. The exact deadline may depend on the violation date, when the claim legally began, where it is filed, and whether another filing has already been made.

Can My Employer Punish Me for Asking to Be Paid?

No. An employer may not legally retaliate against an employee for making a protected wage complaint or exercising a right protected by wage law. However, whether an ordinary request for promised pay is protected depends on the law and the employee's conduct.

Retaliation may include firing, cutting hours or pay, making threats, or taking another harmful employment action after protected wage activity.

Michigan's MCL 408.483 protects certain complaints, proceedings, testimony, and exercises of rights under Act 390. Federal law separately prohibits discharge or discrimination for activity protected by 29 U.S.C. Section 215(a)(3).

Save copies of new schedules, pay records, messages, warnings, and termination documents. Do not alter them.

Talk With Michigan Legal Center About Missing Pay

Bring your pay statements, time records, compensation terms, and relevant messages. Michigan Legal Center's Michigan employment lawyers can review what pay is missing, which law applies, and which filing deadline may control.

You can start a case review without choosing an agency or court route first.