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Protecting The Rights Of Michigan Employees
The Michigan employment attorneys at Fieger Law have secured more million‑dollar verdicts than any other U.S. firm. We’re nationally recognized for standing up to big business and fighting for those who’ve been mistreated.
Has your employer mistreated you? Do their actions contradict what they said in an employee handbook or employment contract? Have you been subjected to wrongful discrimination, sexual harassment, or unlawful retaliation and/or termination?
If so, you might qualify for a legal remedy under either federal or Michigan law.
To determine the full nature and extent of the rights you have under state and federal employment laws, you should retain the services of a serious Michigan employment law attorney for legal representation.
What Is Employment Law?
Employment law is a set of rules and regulations that control the relationship between employees and their employers. These laws protect the rights of workers while also outlining the responsibilities that employers must follow.
It covers many important areas. For example, they set standards for workplace safety, regulate how many hours an employee can work, and require employers to pay fair wages, including overtime.
There are also laws about benefits like family and medical leave, which allow workers to take time off for important reasons and it is made up of different rules from local, state, and federal governments. Because it covers so much ground, it’s usually divided into different categories such as job safety, wages and hours, benefits, discrimination and harassment protections, and workplace behavior.
On Feb. 21, 2025, the Michigan Earned Sick Time Act went into effect. This made changes to the state’s earned sick time laws, including expanding coverage to nearly all employers, broadening employee eligibility, increasing sick time accrual rate, and more. Although the law is new, employers are still required to abide by it.
Common Employment Law Violations in Michigan
Despite the existence of numerous laws designed to protect workers, many employees still face unlawful treatment in the workplace. Understanding the most common violations can help you recognize when your rights might be at risk:
1. Wrongful Termination
Wrongful termination occurs when an employee is fired in violation of legal protections. This includes being dismissed for discriminatory reasons, such as race or gender, or being retaliated against for reporting unsafe conditions or illegal activities. Employers are not allowed to fire employees simply for asserting their legal rights or filing complaints about workplace issues.
2. Discrimination and Harassment
Discrimination happens when employees are mistreated or denied opportunities based on protected characteristics such as race, gender, age, religion, pregnancy, or military service.
The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbid discrimination based on protected characteristics, including harassment. Both state and federal laws prohibit such conduct and require employers to maintain workplaces free from discrimination and harassment.
Unfortunately, these laws don’t prevent discrimination from occurring, including right here in Michigan. For example, in Jan. 2025, PACE Southeast Michigan paid $170,000 to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission.
3. Wage and Hour Violations
Wage violations are among the most common workplace issues. Employers may fail to pay minimum wage, deny overtime, or require employees to work off the clock.
For example, workers in Michigan, New York, and California filed class action lawsuits against McDonald’s, alleging wage theft that included unpaid hours, overtime violations, and being made to wait without pay. This case highlights ongoing challenges with wage law compliance and the need for strong protections against retaliation.
Other common violations include misclassifying workers as independent contractors and miscalculating pay for salaried employees, both of which can deny workers the wages and benefits they are legally owed.
4. Breach of Employment Contracts
Many employees have contracts or employee handbooks that outline specific terms of employment, including job duties, hours, pay rates, and benefits. Employers who ignore or break these agreements such as changing pay without notice or denying agreed-upon benefits can be held accountable for breaching the contract.
5. Retaliation Against Employees
Retaliation occurs when an employer punishes an employee for asserting their rights, such as filing a complaint about discrimination, harassment, wage theft, or unsafe working conditions. Retaliation can take many forms, including demotion, reduction of hours, or termination. Retaliatory actions are illegal, and employees who face retaliation have the right to take legal action.
WHY CALL FIEGER LAW?
Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Recovered for Clients
Sexual harassment, discrimination, and unjust termination are just a few of the abuses that employers inflict upon their employees. In most cases, it’s a violation of your civil rights, and it’s not acceptable.
The employment law attorneys at Fieger Law don’t tolerate these types of abuses, and neither should you. We have represented workers whose civil rights were trampled upon in the name of corporate greed and profits. We fight for the truth, and we win.
We’re Here to Protect Your Rights
Employment laws are intended to keep employees safe and ensure they get treated fairly in the workplace. They mostly began in the early 20th century and have continually expanded and evolved to create safe working environments, non-discriminatory hiring practices, a minimum wage, and more.
Millions of workers benefit from these laws, but employers don’t always observe or follow them. When workers get victimized by greedy employers, they need experienced legal advocates on their side to help them get the money they deserve.
Our firm can help you with many employment law issues, including:
- Minimum wage violations (e.g., Metro Detroit employers underpaying)
- Wrongful termination (including local wage-based firings)
- Sexual harassment and discrimination (gender, race, age, disability)
- ELCRA and FEHA violations (state and federal civil‑rights law)
- Overtime/payroll disputes, wage theft
- FMLA leave violations
- Unlawful non‑compete / tip‑pooling issues
Have your rights been violated in Detroit or anywhere in Michigan? Reach out today for a free consultation. Remember, legal deadlines apply, so act promptly.
DOES YOUR EMPLOYER OWE YOU BACK PAY?
In many employment lawsuits, employees or former employees are entitled to back pay for any money rightfully owed to them by an employer. This is often true in minimum wage and overtime disputes.
MINIMUM WAGE VIOLATIONS
Your employer is required to pay you either the federal or state-mandated minimum wage, whichever is higher. As of February 21, 2025, Michigan’s minimum wage is $12.48/hour for workers over 18. Even full-time salaried workers must have an annual pay that satisfies the minimum wage when accounting for a 40-hour workweek.
OVERTIME VIOLATIONS
Whether you are salaried or hourly, if you work longer than 8 hours in a day, 40 hours in a week, or more than seven days consecutively, you are likely entitled to overtime. You are not typically required to have “approval” for overtime, nor are employers required to be aware that you worked overtime at the time. As soon as your employer knows that you’ve worked extra hours, you are entitled to extra pay for those hours.
If your employer has refused to pay you your rightful wages, turn to Fieger Law. We’ve taken on big businesses who thought they could get away with cheating their employees. Our firm won’t let that stand. We’ll file a claim to make your employer pay every dime they owe you, as well as potential penalty fees based on how long their violations went unaddressed.
ARE YOU A RECENTLY PROMOTED MANAGER?
Many employers get away with overtime violations, because many of them go unreported or employees wrongfully believe they are exempt from overtime pay. This is rarely the case. If you’ve been recently promoted, only to find that you’re working more hours for less pay per hour, you may be owed a great deal more money than you realize.
Fieger Law has been going after large franchises who have been taking advantage of their managers by using “loopholes” in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA states that employees in administrative positions (managers) are exempt from overtime pay. As a result, businesses will “promote” their employees to legally compel them to work long hours for barely more than minimum wage. In reality, these managers are doing almost the exact work — just with a different title and less pay per hour.
If you believe this to be your situation, your employer may owe you hundreds of hours of overtime pay, as well as compensation for violating your civil rights. Our team will make sure they’re held accountable for taking advantage of you and wrongfully denying you the wages you earned.
WRONGFUL TERMINATION LAWSUITS
Fieger Law has always stood for the rights of workers. If you’ve been terminated on illegal grounds, you’re entitled to sue your employer in a wrongful termination lawsuit. Wrongful termination includes firing someone based on their membership in any protected class (i.e., for having a disability, being a certain race or gender, belonging to a particular faith, reaching a specific age, etc.)
However, you are also protected from termination as retaliation. This action includes getting fired for:
- Reporting an employer’s workplace violations
- Filing a workers’ compensation lawsuit
- Suing an employer for discrimination
- Taking family or maternity leave
- Filing a sexual harassment complaint
If you’ve been fired following any of the above events, you may have been wrongfully terminated. Your employer will never admit their wrongdoing, but Fieger Law knows how to handle big businesses and employers. We conduct the investigations that reveal your firing for what it is: discriminatory and wrong.
Contact Our Michigan Employment Lawyers Today
If you or a family member’s civil rights have been violated regarding employment, Fieger Law is here to advocate on your behalf. Contact us today for a free consultation. Put our decades of experience to work for you.
