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SB 948

Labor: fair employment practices; requirement for an employee to access or respond to work-related communications outside of usual work hours; prohibit. Creates new act.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Rosemary Bayer and 3 co-sponsors

Michigan employers cannot require employees to respond to work communications outside designated hours, protecting after-hours boundaries.

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Bill Summary · SB 948

Summary of SB 948 (2025-2026) — Michigan

Purpose and intent

SB 948, titled the Workplace Employee Boundaries Act, seeks to protect employees from being required to access or respond to work-related communications outside of their established work hours. The bill also prohibits retaliation for asserting these rights, prohibits waivers of protections, and provides remedies, enforcement mechanisms, and rulemaking authority for state and local officials.

Key provisions and changes

-Definition and scope
- Creates defined terms: Department (Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity), Employee, Employer, Hours of Availability, and Retaliatory Personnel Action.
- Work-related communications include emails, texts, group messages, calls, or social media messages concerning employment duties, including scheduling.

-Can’t-mandate after-hours access (general rule)
- Employers may not require an employee to access or respond to a work-related communication outside the employee’s usual work hours.

-Hours of availability (employee control)
- Employees may designate hours outside their usual hours during which they are willing to access/respond to work communications.
- If designated, employees must notify the employer of the specific hours.
- Employers must not require access outside those designated hours, except as otherwise allowed under subsection (3).

-Exceptions (when after-hours rules do not apply)
- Emergencies declared by state or federal government affecting first responders or normal operations.
- Timely notices or alerts to all or a subset of employees.
- On-call employees who are compensated for being on call.

-Retaliation protections
- Employers may not retaliate against employees for exercising rights under the act or for using specified means to communicate unavailability (e.g., signature lines, automatic replies, voicemail scripts).
- Retaliation protections also extend to participation in investigations or opposition to violations of the act.

-Waivers prohibited
- Employers cannot require employees to waive protections of the act as a condition of employment; any such waiver is void.

-Enforcement and remedies
- An injured individual may file a complaint with the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (the Department), including details of the violation.
- The Department will investigate and determine violations.
- If a violation is found:
- The Department may impose a fine up to $500 per violation.
- For each hour (or part of an hour) employees were improperly required to respond outside hours, employers may owe compensation at a rate of at least 1.5 times the employee’s regular hourly rate (or equivalent for salaried employees).
- The Department may require the employer to complete professional development training on workplace boundaries; proof of completion must be provided.

-Collective bargaining considerations
- If employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in effect on the act’s effective date, the bill’s protections apply starting from the stated expiration date of the CBA.

-Rulemaking
- The Department is authorized to promulgate rules to implement the act under Michigan’s Administrative Procedures Act.

Who is affected

  • Employers of any size that employ one or more individuals in Michigan.
  • Employees (including on-call workers and independent contractors engaged by an employer, depending on status under the act’s definitions).
  • Public and private sector employers, as the act defines “employer” to include government entities and educational institutions.
  • Individuals covered by CBAs will be subject to the act in line with the CBA term.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Introduction and referral: Introduced May 7, 2026, to the Senate Labor Committee.
  • Effective date and applicability: Not specified in the text provided; applicability to CBAs aligns with their expiration date.
  • Rulemaking: The Department must promulgate implementing rules under the Administrative Procedures Act.
  • Enforcement timeline: Fines and back pay remedies would be triggered by Department findings of violations, followed by potential court action for collection of fines.

Observations and potential impact

  • Creates a clear baseline expectation that employees control after-hours communications, reducing after-hours work encroachments.
  • Establishes monetary and training remedies to deter violations.
  • Balances operational needs with employee boundaries by including emergency and on-call exceptions.
  • Could increase employer administrative and compliance responsibilities, including tracking hours of availability and maintaining records of communications.
  • Enforcement relies on the Department’s investigation process; individuals must file complaints to trigger action.

If you’d like, I can tailor this to a quick-reference fact sheet or a side-by-side comparison with existing Michigan or federal work-hours/roving communications norms.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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