Labor: fair employment practices; certain information about a job applicant's compensation history and credit history; prohibit an employer from seeking or asking about. Amends sec. 13a of 1978 PA 390 (MCL 408.483a).

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Noah Arbit and 35 co-sponsors

HB 4290 bans Michigan employers from asking job applicants about past wages, benefits, or credit history and bars retaliation for wage disclosures.

bill electronically reproduced 03/25/2025

#labor:fairemploymentpractices

Purpose

HB 4290 is intended to strengthen pay-transparency and nondiscrimination protections by (1) prohibiting employer policies and practices that silence employees about their wages, (2) forbidding retaliation for employees who disclose wages, and (3) prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about past wages, fringe benefits, credit score, or credit history.

Key provisions

Prohibits an employer from:

Implementing or enforcing a policy (including written policies or nondisclosure requirements) that forbids or discourages an employee from disclosing their wages.
Requiring an employee to sign a waiver or other document that purports to deny the employee the right to disclose their wages.
Discharging, disciplining, or otherwise discriminating against an employee (including denying job advancement) for disclosing their wages.
Asking an employment applicant about their past wages, fringe benefits, credit score, or credit history, or otherwise seeking that information.

Carves out an explicit exception where an employer or its agent is required by law or by a self‑regulatory organization (as defined in 15 USC 78c(a)(26)) to use an individual's past wages, fringe benefits, credit score, or credit history for employment purposes (examples include certain bonding or financial-industry regulatory requirements).

Who is affected

Employers and their agents operating in Michigan (private and possibly public employers covered by the underlying Wage & Fringe Benefits Act).

Current employees (protections from nondisclosure requirements and retaliation).

Job applicants (protection from questions about prior compensation, benefits, and credit history).

Employers in industries subject to statutory or self-regulatory mandates that require use of compensation or credit information are exempted in those narrow circumstances.

Procedural status / timeline

Filed: March 11, 2025; introduced in House: March 25, 2025 (sponsor Rep. Natalie Price).

House actions: amended, passed, and engrossed (final House passage recorded May 2, 2025).

Referred in the Senate to committees (Business & Commerce; State Affairs noted in the record).

Companion bill: SB 2211.

Enforcement and practical impact

HB 4290 amends the Michigan Wage & Fringe Benefits Act (1978 PA 390). The bill text does not add a new penalty framework; enforcement would proceed under the existing remedies and procedures of that act unless further legislative changes are made.

Practical implications for employers: revise job applications and interview practices (remove salary/benefit/credit-history questions where not legally required), update confidentiality policies and employee handbooks, and train managers/HR on nondiscrimination and pay‑disclosure protections.

Potential policy effects: increased pay transparency, reduced reliance on prior pay to set offers (which can help address pay inequities), and limits on use of credit-history information in hiring except where legally required.

Bill