If you’re planning to hire employees who live and work in Michigan, your employee handbook needs to comply with federal and Michigan state employment laws. While employers are never required to create and distribute employee handbooks, they’re a helpful resource for both employers and employees. A good employee handbook acts as an introduction to your company, sets expectations, explains important company policies and procedures, and reduces the risk of liability. However, if your Michigan employee handbook fails to comply with state and federal laws, you could leave your company open to lawsuits.
SixFifty’s Employment Docs platform is the answer to your employee handbook needs. It’s easy and cost-effective to generate compliant, state-specific handbooks for all 50 states. Read on to find out how it works.
Required Michigan employee handbook policies
Michigan requires employers to implement and comply with nine state-specific policies::
- Civil Air Patrol Leave
- Crime Victim Leave
- Domestic Violence Leave
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Jury Duty Leave
- Meal and Rest Breaks (minors only)
- Paid Sick Leave
- Social Security Number Privacy (see SixFifty’s Social Security Policy)
- Whistleblower
Note that three of these policies may not need to be included: if you don’t have 50 or more employees, you don’t need to include domestic violence leave or paid sick leave, and if you don’t hire minors, the meal and rest break policy isn’t required.
Optional Michigan employee handbook policies
In addition to the nine required policies, employers are also free to include these optional Michigan employee handbook policies. Depending on your company type, structure, and employment type, you may not want or need to include all of the following:
- Affinity Group Policy
- Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy
- Arbitration Policy
- At-Will Employment Policy
- Background Check Policy
- COBRA Policy
- Cell Phone Policy
- Code of Conduct Policy
- Business Expense Policy
- Company Property Policy
- Confidentiality and Trade Secrets Policy
- Desk Hoteling Policy
- Direct Deposit Policy
- Dress Code Policy
- Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy
- Electronic Devices While Driving Policy
- Employee Benefits Policy
- Employee Classification Policy
- Employee Dating Policy
- Employee References Policy
- Employment of Relatives Policy
- Exit Interview Policy
- Gifts Policy
- Health and Safety Policy
- Home Office Reimbursement Policy
- Job Duties Policy
- Key or Access Card Policy
- Holidays
- Immigration Law Compliance
- Leave Policies, including: Parental Leave; Bereavement Leave; Organ, Bone Marrow, and Blood Donor Leave; Voting Leave; Witness Duty Leave; School Activity Leave
- Cannabis Policy
- Off-Duty Use of Facilities
- Outside Employment Policy
- Overtime Policy
- Paid Time Off
- Payment of Wages Policy
- Payroll Deductions Policy
- Performance Review Policy
- Personnel Files Policy
- Pets in the Workplace Policy
- Progressive Discipline Policy
- Public Relations Policy
- Punctuality and Attendance Policy
- Record Retention Policy
- Remote Working Policy
- Salary Pay Policy
- Smoking Policy
- Social Media Policy
- Solicitation and Distribution of Literature Policy
- Technology Systems Policy
- Temporary Relocation Policy
- Timekeeping Policy
- Video Conferencing Policy
- Weapons in the Workplace
- Workers’ Compensation Policy
- Workplace Violence Policy
- Workplace Visitor Policy
- Workweek and Work Schedules Policy
It’s up to your company to decide which of these policies will be helpful to your company and its employees. For example, if your company primarily hires remote workers, a pets in the workplace or workplace visitor policy is likely unnecessary.
Required federal employee handbook policies
Finally, if you choose to create an employee handbook, you must also include these mandatory federal employee handbook policies:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (15+ Employees)
- Employment and Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Policy (50 Employees)
- Jury Duty Leave
- Military Service Leave
- Sexual Harassment Policy
- Lactation Accommodation Policy
- Religious Accommodations Policy
Because federal law supersedes state law, these policies remain the same in all 50 states. All of your employee handbooks, Michigan or otherwise, should contain these policies (assuming the organization meets the 50-employee requirement for FMLA).
How to create a Michigan employee handbook
Creating a Michigan employee handbook can be challenging, even if you’re only including the required state and federal policies. Plus, drafting your own handbook can be risky: if you accidentally violate state or federal employment laws, your organization could be placed at risk.
Some employers hire attorneys to draft a handbook. That’s a safe option, but if you plan to hire employees in more than one state, you’ll quickly rack up billable hours. On the other hand, using one-size-fits-all online templates is a cheaper but riskier choice. There’s no guarantee that a template will include all the required policies and language to protect your company.
Fortunately, SixFifty has a better solution. Instead of drafting your own handbook, using a template or hiring an attorney, we can do the heavy lifting for you. Our employee handbook creator platform helps employers through each stage of the employment life cycle, starting with offering letters and concluding with termination and offboarding tools. It’s easier than ever to generate top-tier employment documents—and because our legal team keeps a close eye on changes to employment law nationwide, you’ll be notified if you need to regenerate and redistribute your Michigan employee handbooks.
Ready to learn more? Schedule a demo today!
Looking to create an employee handbook for a different state? View our interactive map for required employee handbook policies by state.
