Michigan Handbook Addendum

A national handbook written for everywhere is written for nowhere. Open it in Michigan and the sick-time page is already wrong.

Keep the national book. Paste this under it for people who work here. It is an overlay, not a second handbook.

Federal law stays put. Do not rewrite Title VII, the ADA, the PWFA, the PUMP Act, the FMLA, or WARN here.

The Paid Medical Leave Act is gone. Earned sick time is the rule. It starts at one employee. A small shop caps use at 40 hours. Everyone else caps at 72.

Do not invent a meal break. Do not invent a pumping room. Do not invent a leftover city sick bank. Pregnancy is equal treatment. Religion is no-discrimination, not a state accommodation duty.

Replace the brackets. Then paste.

1. At-will employment

   [Company] employs at will. Either you or [Company] may end the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice, unless a written agreement signed by [title] says otherwise. This handbook is not a contract. It does not guarantee employment for any period. No manager may change at-will status by an oral promise.

2. Equal employment

   [Company] does not discriminate in hiring, discharge, compensation, or terms of work because of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, height, weight, or marital status. Pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, and related medical conditions are treated the same as other conditions that similarly affect a person’s ability to work.

3. Disability accommodation

   If you need an accommodation for a disability, ask [Human Resources / your supervisor] in writing. [Company] will consider the request. Under Michigan’s Persons With Disabilities Civil Rights Act, a failure-to-accommodate violation may be alleged only if written notice of the need is given within 182 days after you knew, or reasonably should have known, that an accommodation was needed. Applicants have the same notice rule.

4. Earned sick time

   This section is your written notice of earned sick time. It is also the written policy for how you give notice when the need is not foreseeable.

   Amount and year. You accrue one hour of paid earned sick time for every 30 hours you work. You may use up to [40 / 72] hours in a year. A year is [the calendar year / the 12 consecutive months beginning on your hire date / the 12 consecutive months beginning [date]]. Unused accrued time carries over up to [40 / 72] hours. Use in a year stays capped at [40 / 72] hours.

   Or grant the year’s hours up front: at the start of each year [Company] will provide [40 / 72] hours of paid earned sick time for immediate use. You may use up to that amount in the year. Unused time does not carry over.

   You may require a 120-day wait if the person was hired after 21 February 2025: they may begin using accrued earned sick time 120 calendar days after they start. Accrual starts when they start. Do not pair that wait with the up-front grant.

   How you use it. You may use earned sick time in increments of one hour, or in the smallest increment [Company] uses for other absences or paid time.

   You may use it for:

   • Your own mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; diagnosis, care, or treatment; or preventative care.
   • The same needs of a family member.
   • If you or a family member is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault: medical care or counseling; help from a victim-services organization; relocation; legal services; or a related civil or criminal proceeding.
   • A meeting at your child’s school or place of care about the child’s health or disability, or about the effects of domestic violence or sexual assault on the child.
   • Closure of your workplace by order of a public official because of a public-health emergency; care for a child whose school or place of care is closed for the same reason; or a health authority or provider’s determination that you or a family member should stay out of the community because of exposure to a communicable disease, whether or not that person caught it.

   Family member means a child (biological, adopted, foster, step, legal ward, a domestic partner’s child, or a child you stand in for as a parent); a parent or legal guardian of you or of your spouse or domestic partner, or someone who stood in as a parent when you were a minor; a spouse or domestic partner; a grandparent; a grandchild; a biological, foster, or adopted sibling; anyone related to you by blood; and anyone whose close association is the equivalent of family. A domestic partner is an adult in a committed relationship who shares a significant measure of common welfare with you.

   [Company] will not require you to find a replacement worker as a condition of using this time.

   Earned sick time is paid at the highest of your normal hourly wage, your base wage, and the state minimum wage. It need not include overtime, holiday pay, bonuses, commissions, tips, or similar extras.

   Unused earned sick time is not paid when work ends, unless a written [Company] policy says otherwise. If you leave and return within two months, unused time you had when you left is restored, unless it was paid out.

   Notice. If the need is foreseeable, give [your supervisor / Human Resources] up to seven days’ notice before the time begins, using [the time system / email / phone].

   If the need is not foreseeable, tell [your supervisor / Human Resources] as soon as practicable after you know you need the time, in the same way you report any other unplanned absence. This addendum is the written policy for that notice.

   Documentation. If you use more than three consecutive days, [Company] may ask for reasonable documentation that the time was for a purpose listed above. You have 15 days after the request. [Company] will not delay the start of the time while it waits. A note from a health-care professional that the time is necessary is enough. For domestic violence or sexual assault, you choose among a police report, a victim-advocate statement, or a court document. [Company] will not ask for a diagnosis or for details of the violence. If [Company] requires documentation, [Company] pays the out-of-pocket cost. Health, domestic-violence, and sexual-assault information stays confidential.

   No retaliation. [Company] will not interfere with this time or retaliate because you use it, ask for it, complain, or help someone else with it. An absence-control policy will not treat compliant use as an occurrence. [Company] may take action if you use the time for a purpose this section does not allow, or if you violate the notice rules.

   You have the right to file a complaint with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. [Company] will not retaliate for a good-faith complaint.

5. Personnel record

   On written request that describes the personnel record, you may review it, generally not more than twice in a calendar year, at a place reasonably near your work during normal office hours. After the review you may have a copy. [Company] [does not charge / charges the actual incremental cost of the copy]. If you cannot review the file on site, [Company] will mail a copy. If you disagree with what is in the file, you may submit a written statement of up to five sheets. [Company] will keep it with the file.

6. Weapons

   [Company] will not prohibit you from applying for or receiving a concealed-pistol license. You may not carry a concealed pistol in the course of your work for [Company]. [Company] prohibits firearms, ammunition, and other weapons on its premises and property, including in employee vehicles on [Company] lots.

7. Drugs, alcohol, and marijuana

   [Company] maintains a drug-free workplace. [Company] does not have to permit or accommodate marijuana in the workplace or on [Company] property, including marijuana that is legal under Michigan law. [Company] may discipline you for violating this policy or for working under the influence. A positive test, impairment at work, or any other violation may result in discipline, up to and including discharge.

8. Pay

   [Company] pays wages on a regular schedule of [weekly / biweekly / semimonthly / monthly].

   If [Company] discharges you, [Company] will pay all wages earned and due immediately, as soon as the amount can with due diligence be determined. If you quit, [Company] will pay all wages earned and due as soon as the amount can with due diligence be determined.

   [Company] will not deduct from your wages except as the law or a collective-bargaining agreement requires, or with your full, free written consent, given without intimidation. Fringe benefits due when work ends are paid as the written policy or contract says.

9. Social Security number privacy

   [Company] keeps Social Security numbers confidential to the extent practicable. Access is limited to people who need the number to do their job. [Company] does not display all, or more than four sequential, digits in public; use the number as your primary account number; print it on a badge, card, permit, or license; or send it over the internet or a network unless the connection is secure or the transmission is encrypted. [Company] will not mail the number, or use an envelope, so that more than four sequential digits are visible from outside. [Company] will not mail the number except as the Social Security Number Privacy Act allows. When the number is no longer needed, [Company] disposes of it so it cannot be read or reconstructed. Anyone who violates this policy is subject to discipline, up to and including discharge.

10. Jury duty

    [Company] will not discharge or discipline you because you are summoned, serve, or have served on a jury. [Company] will not require you to work hours that, added to jury hours that day, exceed your usual daily hours or run past your usual quitting time, unless you agree. Jury service is unpaid unless [Company] states a different practice in writing.

11. Crime-victim court attendance

    If you are a victim and you are subpoenaed, or the prosecutor asks you to attend court to give testimony, [Company] will not discharge or discipline you for that attendance. The same is true if you attend as a victim’s representative to be present during the victim’s testimony. Time off for domestic violence or sexual assault for medical care, counseling, relocation, or related legal needs is earned sick time under the earned-sick-time section, not a second bank.

12. Military leave

    If you give advance notice, [Company] will not deny unpaid leave to be inducted, to enter active service, to take a fitness exam, or to serve in the military or naval forces of this state, another state, or the United States. When you return and apply as the law requires, [Company] will restore you as that law requires. This leave is unpaid.

13. Whistleblower reports

    [Company] will not discharge, threaten, or discriminate against you because you report, or are about to report, a violation or suspected violation of law to a public body, unless you know the report is false. The same is true if a public body asks you to take part in an investigation, hearing, inquiry, or court action.

14. Internet accounts

    [Company] will not ask you for the password to a personal internet account, or require you to grant access to one, as a condition of a job or a benefit. [Company] will not discharge, discipline, or refuse to hire you for refusing.

15. Polygraph

    [Company] will not request, require, or administer a polygraph as a condition of employment, promotion, a change in status, or a benefit. [Company] will not refuse to hire you because you decline one.

16. Recording

    [Company] prohibits audio or video recording of workplace conversations, meetings, or premises without prior written approval from [Human Resources / title], except as required by law or as authorized for a specific business purpose. This is a workplace rule. It is not a statement of Michigan criminal law.

17. Equal pay

    [Company] will not pay you less than an employee of the opposite sex for equal work requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions, except for seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production, or a factor other than sex. [Company] will not discriminate in compensation because of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, height, weight, or marital status.

Use note

This is a paste-ready overlay for in-house counsel and the HR lead who will drop it in. It is general information, not legal advice. It is not a substitute for the Michigan Compiled Laws, a LEO poster, or counsel on the shop you actually have. As of 21 August 2026.

The overlay names a statute only where the law requires the notice itself. The rules it rests on: MCL 37.2201–37.2202 (ELCRA classes, including height, weight, and marital status; pregnancy as equal treatment; familial status is not on the employment list); MCL 37.1202 and 37.1210 (PWDCRA — 182-day written notice); MCL 408.962–408.968 and 408.972 (Earned Sick Time Act as amended by 2025 PA 2 — LEO claim within three years, no private lawsuit; required notice and poster); MCL 423.501–423.505 (personnel record, four or more employees); MCL 28.425n (job-and-lot weapons ban permitted); MCL 333.27954(3) and 333.26427(c)(2) (no duty to accommodate marijuana at work); MCL 408.472, 408.473, 408.475, and 408.477 (pay frequency; discharge pay immediately, as soon as determinable; quit as soon as determinable; deductions only by law, CBA, or written consent); MCL 445.83–445.84 (Social Security number policy in the handbook); MCL 600.1348 (jury); MCL 780.762 and 780.790 (crime-victim court attendance); MCL 32.273 (unpaid military leave and reemployment); MCL 15.361–15.363 (whistleblower — report to a public body); MCL 37.273 (personal internet accounts); MCL 37.203 (polygraph); and MCL 408.943 and 37.2202 (equal pay / ELCRA compensation). At-will is common law.

A local body may not require paid or unpaid leave. Do not add a Detroit or Ann Arbor leftover sick-leave bank. Do not add an adult meal-break entitlement, a Michigan pumping statute, or a mini-WARN.

Primary sources: 2025 PA 2 · MCL 408.963 · MCL 408.964 · MCL 408.968 · LEO earned sick time · MCL 37.2202 · MCL 37.1210 · MCL 423.503 · MCL 28.425n · MCL 333.27954 · MCL 408.475 · MCL 445.84 · MCL 15.362 · MCL 32.273 · Mothering Justice, 515 Mich 920 (2024)