Michigan Labor Law Posters: State and Federal Requirements

Michigan labor law posters fall into two stacks: a set of state notices required by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, and a set of federal notices required by the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies. Every Michigan employer needs most of them, a few depend on your headcount or workforce, and all of them are available free from the issuing agencies. The list below covers what to post, where to display it, and the updates that catch employers off guard.

State Posters Michigan Employers Must Display

Minimum Wage and Overtime

The Michigan Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act poster applies if you are not covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, or if the federal minimum wage would be lower than Michigan’s. As of January 1, 2026, Michigan’s minimum hourly wage is $13.73.¹ The poster also covers overtime, paid at one-and-a-half times the regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek.²

Earned Sick Time Act

This is the poster most likely to be wrong in a Michigan workplace right now. The Earned Sick Time Act replaced the Paid Medical Leave Act on February 21, 2025.³ If a Paid Medical Leave Act poster is still hanging in your breakroom, it is outdated.

Every Michigan employer with at least one employee is covered.⁴ Workers accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employers with more than 10 employees must allow up to 72 hours of paid sick time per year; employers with 10 or fewer cap the benefit at 40 hours.⁵ The notice is mandatory.

MIOSHA Workplace Safety

The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act poster tells employees they have the right to a safe workplace and how to report hazards. It must be placed in a central, conspicuous location, and failing to post it can trigger a penalty.⁶ Because Michigan runs an OSHA-approved state plan, the MIOSHA poster also satisfies the federal OSHA posting requirement for covered employers.

Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act

The “Michigan Law Prohibits Discrimination” poster explains the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which bars employment discrimination based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, or marital status.⁷ The Michigan Department of Civil Rights publishes the poster for download.⁸

Whistleblowers’ Protection Act

This notice informs workers that it is illegal for a Michigan employer to fire, threaten, or retaliate against an employee who reports a suspected violation of law.⁹

Youth Employment Standards Act

If you employ minors, you must conspicuously post a copy of the youth employment restrictions at the premises where the minor works.¹⁰ The poster covers hour limits, prohibited occupations, and work permit requirements for workers under 18. If you don’t employ minors, this one doesn’t apply.

Unemployment Insurance

Employers covered by the Michigan Employment Security Act must post Form UIA 1710, “Notice to All Employees,” which explains potential eligibility for unemployment benefits and how to file a claim.¹¹

Federal Posters Michigan Employers Must Display

Fair Labor Standards Act

Any employer subject to federal minimum wage rules must post a notice explaining the FLSA, including the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, overtime, and child labor restrictions, where employees can readily read it.¹² Michigan’s $13.73 rate is higher and controls what you pay, but the federal poster is still required.¹

EEO “Know Your Rights”

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires a notice describing federal laws that prohibit workplace discrimination based on race, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and transgender status), national origin, religion, age (40 and older), disability, and genetic information, and explaining how to file a charge.¹³ The current version is titled “Know Your Rights”; the older “EEO is the Law” version is out of compliance.

Family and Medical Leave Act

Every covered employer must display the FMLA poster, even at locations with no currently eligible employees. Covered private-sector employers are those with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks during the current or prior calendar year. Public agencies and schools are covered regardless of headcount.¹⁴ The poster summarizes eligible employees’ right to job-protected unpaid leave for serious health conditions, birth or adoption of a child, and qualifying reasons related to a family member’s military service.¹⁵ If you fall below 50 employees and aren’t a public agency or school, this poster doesn’t apply to you.

OSHA Job Safety and Health

Federal OSHA regulations require every employer to post the “Job Safety and Health: It’s the Law!” notice in a conspicuous place where employee notices are customarily posted, and to ensure it is not altered, defaced, or covered.¹⁶ For employers under the MIOSHA state plan, the MIOSHA poster meets this requirement.

EPPA and USERRA

The Employee Polygraph Protection Act poster tells workers that most private employers cannot require or request a lie detector test as a condition of employment. The USERRA poster covers the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which protects employees who leave their jobs for military service and prohibits discrimination against current and former service members.¹⁷

Federal Contractors Have Extra Postings

If your business holds a federal contract or subcontract, Executive Order 13496 requires you to inform employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act to organize, bargain collectively, and engage in other protected activity. The notice must be posted conspicuously in every location where covered employees perform contract-related work.¹⁸ Noncompliance can lead to suspension or cancellation of the contract and debarment from future federal contracts. Federally funded construction projects carry additional obligations, including Davis-Bacon Act wage notices; if that describes your work, check the DOL’s elaws Poster Advisor for the full list.

Where to Get the Posters Free

Every required poster is available at no cost. The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity hosts all state posters for download and printing.¹⁹ Federal posters are on the U.S. Department of Labor’s poster page in English and several other languages.²⁰ You do not need to buy from a third-party compliance service.

Some posters have blank fields you must fill in before posting. The most common is your workers’ compensation carrier name and policy number so employees know where to direct a claim. You may also need to enter emergency contact information and note where your OSHA Form 300 log of work-related injuries and illnesses is kept. Blank fields are one of the easiest compliance mistakes to fix: grab the poster, fill it in with a pen, and put it back up.

Display Rules

Both federal and state rules require notices to sit in a conspicuous location where employees customarily see them.¹² Breakrooms, hallways near time clocks, and common gathering areas all work. A locked office, the back of a propped-open door, or a binder on a shelf does not. If you run multiple shifts, every shift needs access without asking permission.

OSHA requires that any reproduction of its poster be at least 8.5 by 14 inches with a minimum 10-point font, and the heading must be in large type, generally no smaller than 36-point.¹⁶ The official OSHA poster page confirms those dimensions for anyone printing from a personal computer.²¹ Faded, torn, or partially covered posters don’t satisfy the requirement. If an inspector cannot read it, you don’t have it posted.

Language and Translated Versions

Most federal posters do not have to be displayed in languages other than English. The FMLA poster is the major exception: if a significant portion of your workforce is not literate in English, you are responsible for providing the notice in a language those employees can read.²² The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act poster and the Executive Order 13496 contractor notice also carry non-English posting requirements.

Even where a translated version is not legally mandated, the DOL encourages employers to post one when a meaningful part of the workforce speaks another language, and free Spanish-language versions of most federal posters are available on the DOL website.²⁰

Remote and Hybrid Workers

DOL Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-7 lays out when electronic posting substitutes for a physical poster. All three conditions must be met:

Every employee works remotely, not just some.
All employees regularly receive information from the employer by electronic means.
All employees can view the electronic posting at any time without requesting special permission.

If even one employee works on-site, electronic notices supplement but do not replace physical posters.²³ Burying a PDF in a rarely visited corner of an intranet doesn’t count either; the DOL compares that to hiding a hard-copy poster in an office nobody visits. Remote workers must be told where and how to access the notices. For hybrid workplaces, the safest setup is both: physical posters in the office and electronic versions on a portal remote workers use regularly.

Keeping the Set Current

Posters aren’t a set-it-and-forget-it task. Michigan’s minimum wage has been rising on a set schedule, and every rate change means a new poster. The Earned Sick Time Act replacing the Paid Medical Leave Act in February 2025 is a recent example of a poster becoming obsolete overnight.³ On the federal side, the EEOC updated its poster to “Know Your Rights” in 2023.¹³

Check the Michigan LEO website and the DOL poster page at the start of each calendar year and whenever you hear about new legislation. When a revised poster comes out, pull the old one down and replace it. Leaving both versions up side by side causes confusion and doesn’t satisfy the requirement; only the current version counts.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 408.934 – Minimum Hourly Wage Rate
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Act 337 of 2018 – Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act
3
Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Earned Sick Time Act – Effective Feb. 21, 2025
4
Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Earned Sick Time Act – Frequently Asked Questions
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 408.963 – Earned Sick Time Act
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 408.1001 – Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act
7
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Act 453 of 1976 – Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act
8
Michigan Department of Civil Rights. Brochures and Posters
9
State of Michigan. Michigan Whistleblowers’ Protection Act Poster
10
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Act 90 of 1978 – Youth Employment Standards Act
11
State of Michigan. UIA 1710 Notice to All Employees Poster
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Minimum Wage Poster
13
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Know Your Rights – Workplace Discrimination Is Illegal Poster
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28D – Employer Notification Requirements Under the Family and Medical Leave Act
15
U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Poster
16
eCFR. 29 CFR 1903.2 – Posting of Notice
17
U.S. Department of Labor. Your Rights Under USERRA Poster
18
U.S. Department of Labor. Executive Order 13496 – Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws
19
Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Wage and Hour Posting Requirements For Employers
20
U.S. Department of Labor. Workplace Posters
21
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Job Safety and Health Workplace Poster
22
U.S. Department of Labor. Posters – Frequently Asked Questions
23
United States Department of Labor. Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2020-7