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Michigan sets its own deadline, its own penalty, and its own rule on unused vacation. Here is what the statute says, what it is worth to you, and where to file if the money never arrives.
An employee who is discharged must be paid all wages earned and due at the time of discharge (MCL 408.475). Michigan does not add a separate waiting period.
An employee who leaves voluntarily must be paid all wages earned and due as soon as the amount can with due diligence be determined — in practice the next regular payday (MCL 408.475).
Michigan treats earned vacation as wages that must be paid at separation unless the employer's written policy states that unused time is forfeited.
Fringe benefits and commissions covered by a written policy are due at separation under the Act; an unwritten plan is much harder for the employer to rely on.
Michigan's Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Act provides no liquidated damages and no waiting-time penalty. This is the state where third-party summary sites most often invent one: the statute simply requires payment, and the remedy is a claim for the wages plus costs.
This state does not impose a separate statutory penalty for late final pay. Treat that number as leverage in the letter, not as a promise: a court or agency decides what is actually owed, and the penalty provisions usually require the employer to have acted wilfully or without good cause.
File with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity — Wage and Hour Division, which handles wage claims administratively, usually at no cost. The alternative is small claims court, where the limit for an individual in Michigan is $7,000. Both routes go better with a dated written demand and a certified-mail receipt, because the first question either forum asks is when the employer knew.
An employee who is discharged must be paid all wages earned and due at the time of discharge (MCL 408.475). Michigan does not add a separate waiting period.
An employee who leaves voluntarily must be paid all wages earned and due as soon as the amount can with due diligence be determined — in practice the next regular payday (MCL 408.475).
Michigan treats earned vacation as wages that must be paid at separation unless the employer's written policy states that unused time is forfeited.
Two routes: file a wage claim with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity — Wage and Hour Division (https://www.michigan.gov/leo/bureaus-agencies/wd), or sue in small claims court where an individual's claim limit is $7,000. A dated written demand sent first is what makes either route easier, because it fixes the date the employer was on notice.
Only official sources are used: the state labor agency, the statute itself, and where relevant the U.S. Department of Labor. Third-party summary sites are deliberately excluded because they disagree with each other on penalty formulas.
Reviewed 2026-11-03 · reviewed again every 90 days.
being fired · resigning · a layoff · unused PTO · unpaid commissions
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