On January 1, 2016, the minimum wage in Michigan increased from $8.15 to $8.50 an hour. This means full-time minimum-wage employees will now earn an extra $14 a week, or an additional $728 a year.
In 2014, the State Legislature passed a measure that incrementally raises minimum pay for Michigan workers over a period of years. Two more increases are scheduled as follows:
- January 1, 2017 - $8.90 an hour
- January 1, 2018 - $9.25 an hour
At $8.50 an hour, Michigan’s minimum wage is now the 14th highest among the states that set a minimum wage. Michigan is not the only state to bump the pay threshold in 2016. Fourteen others have done so as well, including Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia.
Despite the increase, state law provides that employers can pay teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 years old $4.25 per hour for their first 90 days of employment. And employees ages 16 and 17 can still be paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
Also as of the first of the year, the minimum wage for tipped workers has gone up from $3.10 to $3.23 an hour. Employees who receive tips must make $8.50 an hour, with tips and regular wages taken into account.
The attorneys in Sommers Schwartz’s Wage & Hour Litigation Group are knowledgeable in all aspects of minimum wage laws and protections. If you suspect that you have been unjustly denied compensation, please contact us to learn how we can help.
Jason J. Thompson
Jason Thompson is a nationally board certified trial attorney and co-chairs Sommers Schwartz’s Complex Litigation Department. He has a formidable breadth of litigation experience, including class action and multidistrict litigation (MDL), and practices nationwide in both state and federal courts.
