Michigan salary history ban: no state law, a block on city bans, and the state agency rule (2026)

Michigan has no salary history ban. As of October 2026, no Michigan statute stops a private employer, staffing agency or recruiter from asking what a candidate earns or from using the answer, and the Legislature's search shows no 2025–2026 bill to change it. Michigan goes further the other way: MCL 123.1384 bars cities and counties from regulating what employers ask on applications or in interviews, and we found no Michigan city with its own ban. State agencies under the Governor have not asked since Executive Directive 2019-10, and federal and state equal pay rules still limit how a prior salary can be used.

Is there a salary history ban in Michigan?

No. Our guide to hiring employees in Michigan and Michigan background check laws page found no statewide rule for private employers. A full-text search of 2025–2026 House and Senate bills in the Legislature's legislative document search for "salary" and "history" returns appropriations, economic development and other bills, none of which deals with hiring questions.

Can Michigan cities ban salary history questions?

The Local Government Labor Regulatory Limitation Act of 2015 makes that very hard. MCL 123.1384 says:

"A local governmental body shall not adopt, enforce, or administer an ordinance, local policy, or local resolution regulating information an employer or potential employer must request, require, or exclude on an application for employment or during the interview process from an employee or a potential employee."

The section's only exception allows a local rule requiring a criminal background check tied to a local license or permit. The act applies to local rules adopted after December 31, 2014, according to the compiler's note on MCL 123.1381.

The section does not mention salary history by name. But an ordinance telling employers to leave a salary question off the application and out of the interview is a rule about information an employer must "exclude," which is exactly what it forbids. Our salary history ban states page lists Michigan, with Wisconsin, as a state that blocks local bans, while noting that this reading is an inference from the text rather than a ruling. We found no Michigan city with a salary history ordinance for private employers.

What must Michigan state agencies do?

Governor Whitmer's Executive Directive 2019-10, "Equal Pay for Equal Work," issued and effective January 7, 2019, applies to state departments and autonomous agencies under the Governor's supervision. They:

• may not ask about a job applicant's current or previous salaries "unless and until" they make a conditional offer "including an explanation of proposed compensation";
• may not ask a current or prior employer, or "search public records databases," for the applicant's salary;
• must take reasonable measures not to discover salary history by accident, and may not use what they do find;
• may verify compensation before a conditional offer only if the applicant volunteers it or a law requires it; and
• may not consider an applicant's refusal to volunteer compensation information.

The directive asks the Civil Service Commission to extend the same protections to the classified service. It binds state agencies, not private employers, but it is a ready-made policy for any Michigan employer that wants one.

What Michigan law limits the use of prior pay?

The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act

MCL 37.2202 bars an employer from discriminating "with respect to employment, compensation, or a term, condition, or privilege of employment" because of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, height, weight or marital status. Under MCL 37.2201, an employer is "a person that has 1 or more employees," including its agent, so the act reaches far smaller employers than Title VII does.

The equal pay section of the wage act

MCL 408.423, section 13 of the Workforce Opportunity Wage Act, bars an employer with employees subject to the act from paying one sex less for equal work within an establishment, unless the difference comes from seniority, merit, a production system or "a factor other than sex." Wages withheld in violation are treated as unpaid minimum wages for enforcement.

What federal law applies in Michigan?

• The Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d), with its "any other factor other than sex" defense.
• The EEOC on prior salary. The EEOC Compliance Manual says "Prior salary cannot, by itself, justify a compensation disparity," although it can succeed if sex was not a factor and other factors were also considered.
• Federal contractors. The OFCCP pay transparency provision (41 CFR 60-1.35) is no longer in force. It rested on Executive Order 11246, which Executive Order 14173 revoked on January 21, 2025, and the regulations were rescinded effective October 26, 2026 (91 FR 54444). The National Labor Relations Act still protects most private-sector employees who discuss their wages.

When does another state's or city's ban apply to a Michigan search?

Michigan recruiters run into bans at the borders. Toledo's chapter 768 covers applicants for work to be performed in Toledo, at employers located there with 15 or more employees in the city, and it names employment agencies as employers. A Monroe County candidate applying for a Toledo job is protected, wherever they live; our Ohio salary history page compares it with Cincinnati and Columbus. West of the lake, Illinois bars using pay history even when it is volunteered, according to its labor department. And a ban in the state where a remote hire will work can apply even though the employer is in Michigan; see California, New York and the full list on salary history ban states.

What may a Michigan recruiter ask?

Michigan at a glance

A Michigan script

Opening the pay topic

"This Grand Rapids role pays $31 to $36 an hour, with overtime after 40 (example figures). What rate are you looking for?" More wording is in salary expectation questions.

When the client asks for current pay

"Michigan doesn't ban the question, but we don't ask it. It doesn't tell us whether the offer lands, and our Toledo and Chicago searches can't use it anyway. He's looking for $34."

When the candidate volunteers it

"Thanks, but we set offers from the range." Record the expectation only; see what not to write in interview notes.

Checklist for Michigan searches

1. Confirm where the work will be done; if it is in Toledo or another ban state, follow that rule.
2. Get the range from the client before screening.
3. Ask for expectations and anything the candidate would forfeit, not current pay.
4. Never drop a candidate for declining to share pay.
5. Keep current pay out of the ATS, notes and the submittal.

Related Michigan pages: Michigan staffing agency licensing, Michigan E-Verify requirements and Michigan recording consent for interviews.