In Michigan, how far back an employment background check goes depends on what kind of information is being reported. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, most non-conviction items — arrests that didn’t lead to a conviction, civil judgments, paid tax liens, collection accounts, and other adverse information — drop off after seven years. Criminal convictions have no federal time limit and can be reported indefinitely, though Michigan’s Clean Slate laws now automatically hide many eligible misdemeanors after seven years and eligible felonies after ten.
The Seven-Year Rule for Non-Conviction Information
The FCRA sets a nationwide ceiling on how old certain items can be when a screening company reports them for employment purposes. Once more than seven years old, these categories cannot appear:
- Arrest records that did not lead to a conviction
- Civil suits and judgments, measured from the date of entry
- Paid tax liens, measured from the date of payment
- Collection accounts and charge-offs
- Any other adverse information other than a criminal conviction
Bankruptcies get a longer window of up to ten years from the filing date, regardless of chapter.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does a Bankruptcy Appear on Credit Reports? The other items follow the seven-year cap.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
The $75,000 Salary Exception
The seven-year limits disappear entirely for jobs paying $75,000 or more per year. If the position is at or above that salary, a screening company can report arrests, civil judgments, collection accounts, and other adverse items regardless of how old they are.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
Criminal Convictions Have No Federal Time Limit
Convictions are carved out of the seven-year cap. A screening company can report a conviction no matter how old it is, and in Michigan, convictions stay on your record permanently unless they are expunged or set aside.3State Bar of Michigan. Quick Guide Got a Record? Know Your Rights Employment They don’t age off after a set number of years on their own.
That is why Michigan’s Clean Slate laws matter so much for lookback. The federal rule leaves convictions visible forever; state law is what actually shortens the window for many Michigan records.
How Michigan’s Clean Slate Laws Shorten the Window
Since April 2023, Michigan has automatically set aside certain eligible convictions without requiring any paperwork from you. The Michigan State Police runs the process through its criminal history database and notifies courts as records clear. Once a conviction is set aside, it becomes nonpublic, sealed from employers, and knowingly using a set-aside conviction against someone is itself a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $500 fine.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 780-623
The automatic waiting periods are:
- Seven years from the date of sentencing for eligible misdemeanors
- Ten years from the date of sentencing or completion of a Michigan Department of Corrections prison term, whichever is later, for eligible felonies
So in practice, many Michigan criminal records effectively have a seven- or ten-year lookback through the automatic process, even though the federal rule would allow them to be reported forever.5Michigan State Police. Clean Slate – State of Michigan
Convictions That Don’t Automatically Clear
The automatic process excludes several categories, which remain visible past those time limits unless you pursue a petition-based set-aside (and some are ineligible even for that):
- Assaultive crimes
- Serious misdemeanors
- Crimes of dishonesty
- Offenses punishable by ten or more years in prison
- Offenses involving a minor, vulnerable adult, serious injury, or death
- Human trafficking violations
- Operating while intoxicated (OWI)
- Commercial motor vehicle violations
- Traffic offenses causing injury or death
If your conviction is in one of these buckets, it won’t disappear from an employer’s view after seven or ten years on its own.5Michigan State Police. Clean Slate – State of Michigan
A Note on First-Time OWI
A first-time OWI is excluded from automatic set-aside but can be cleared through a petition after a five-year waiting period. Only one OWI can be set aside in a lifetime, and the offense cannot have caused injury or death.6Michigan Attorney General. First Time Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) Offenses Even when the criminal record is cleared, the OWI generally stays on your Michigan driving record permanently.
What Michigan Employers Cannot Use at All
Some information is off-limits regardless of how far back it goes. Michigan law prohibits employers from requesting or using information about misdemeanor arrests that did not result in a conviction. If a misdemeanor charge was dropped, dismissed, or you were acquitted, an employer cannot ask about it or hold it against you.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 37-2205a – Employer Record of Misdemeanor Arrest
Any conviction set aside under Clean Slate is also off-limits. The only exceptions are law enforcement agencies and the Department of Corrections, which can access set-aside records when evaluating applicants for their own positions.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 780-623
What ICHAT Shows and Misses
Many Michigan employers run a search through the Internet Criminal History Access Tool (ICHAT), maintained by the Michigan State Police. ICHAT covers all felonies and serious misdemeanors punishable by more than 93 days from the state criminal history repository. It doesn’t include federal records, tribal records, juvenile records, traffic records, local misdemeanors, or criminal history from other states. Suppressed records and warrant information are also excluded.8Michigan State Police. Criminal History Records – State of Michigan
An employer running only ICHAT would miss a federal conviction, an out-of-state arrest, or a minor local ordinance violation. Employers who want a fuller picture use third-party screening companies that pull from county courts, federal databases, and other states, and those broader searches are subject to the FCRA lookback rules above.
Driving Records Are Separate
The Michigan Secretary of State keeps driving records separately from criminal history, and Clean Slate set-asides do not reach them. Traffic violations and convictions on your driving record aren’t affected by expungement, and serious offenses like OWI stay there permanently even if the criminal conviction has been set aside. Employers who require driving as part of the job routinely pull these records, and the FCRA’s seven-year rule does not apply to motor vehicle reports obtained directly from a state agency rather than through a consumer reporting agency.
How to See What Will Show Up
Background reports are only as accurate as the records they pull from, and errors are common: mismatched names, records belonging to someone else, convictions reported that were actually set aside. You can run your own ICHAT search through the Michigan State Police to see what shows up on the state side before an employer does.8Michigan State Police. Criminal History Records – State of Michigan
If a screening company’s report contains inaccurate information, you have the right to dispute it directly with that company. The company must investigate, usually within 30 days, and remove or correct anything it can’t verify.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act If a Clean Slate conviction is still showing on your Michigan record, contact the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center to get it corrected. Catching errors before you apply saves you from having to explain a record that shouldn’t be there in the first place.