Michigan does not require sexual harassment training. What it does have is one of the oldest, broadest, and longest-running state civil rights statutes in the country, applying from the first employee and allowing claims for three years.
The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act
ELCRA is Public Act 453 of 1976, signed in January 1977 and effective that March. It is named for its sponsors, Representative Daisy Elliott of Detroit and Representative Melvin Larsen of Oxford, one a Democrat and one a Republican, which is why Michigan’s civil rights statute carries two surnames rather than a number.
ELCRA writes sexual harassment into the statute itself rather than leaving it to case law, defining it as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature, where submission becomes a condition of employment, where submission or rejection is used in employment decisions, or where the conduct creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
Three things that make Michigan different
One employee is enough. ELCRA applies to employers with one or more employees, well below the federal fifteen.
Height and weight are protected classes. Michigan is the only state to protect both statewide. Neither appears in federal law, and neither appears in most compliance training.
Three years to sue. ELCRA claims brought in court carry a three-year limitation period, against 300 days for a federal EEOC charge. Complaints to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights must be filed within 180 days, but the court route stays open far longer.
ELCRA also protects familial status, marital status, and arrest record. Sexual orientation and gender identity were formally codified in March 2023 by Act 6 of 2023, following a Michigan Supreme Court decision in July 2022 that had already read them into the Act.
Enforcement sits with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, which also investigates federal Title VII and ADEA complaints under a work-sharing agreement with the EEOC.
Michigan in practice
Lansing is the state capital, not Detroit. The workforce concentrates in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren, Sterling Heights, and Ann Arbor. Michigan is the only state made up of two peninsulas and has more freshwater coastline than any other, around 3,288 miles.
For beverage alcohol, Grand Rapids has spent the past decade trading on the name Beer City USA, and Michigan is a control state, meaning the state itself is the wholesaler for distilled spirits. Between the brewing sector, the restaurant economy, and a large seasonal tourism workforce along the lakes, a lot of Michigan employment sits in customer-facing hourly roles.
Why the three-year window matters
A three-year limitation period changes what documentation has to survive. An incident in a Traverse City restaurant during one summer season can be litigated when the staff from that season are two rosters gone and the manager has moved on.
That is the practical argument for running training through a system rather than a sign-in sheet. A company account produces dated per-employee records that outlast the people, and lets you run a separate supervisor track for the people whose conduct creates vicarious exposure.
Michigan sexual harassment training FAQ
Is sexual harassment training required in Michigan?
No. ELCRA does not mandate training, and there is no prescribed course length or renewal interval.
How many employees before ELCRA applies?
One. ELCRA covers employers with one or more employees, unlike the federal fifteen-employee threshold.
How long does an employee have to bring a claim?
Complaints to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights must be filed within 180 days. Claims brought directly in court under ELCRA carry a three-year limitation period.
Does Michigan protect anything unusual?
Yes. Michigan is the only state that protects height and weight as classes statewide, alongside familial status, marital status, and arrest record.
Are sexual orientation and gender identity covered?
Yes. They were formally codified in ELCRA in March 2023, following a Michigan Supreme Court decision in July 2022.
Harassment training in other states
Requirements differ sharply by state on duration, frequency, and headcount thresholds, so take the version for the state you operate in: Nevada, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and more in the full compliance catalog. If your state sets no mandate, the general non-state-specific course covers the federal baseline. Track completion across a roster from the Learn Brands dashboard.