Michigan FOIA Knowledge Center
How to Request Michigan Public Employee Salaries and Payroll
Compensation analysis is strongest when it uses existing payroll data rather than a request for an agency to calculate totals. Ask for the fields already maintained in the payroll system.
Request an existing export
Identify the pay period or calendar year and request employee name, title, department, regular pay, overtime, premium pay, allowances, reimbursements, and gross compensation in an existing spreadsheet or CSV format.
Contracts and benefits
For appointed or executive employees, request employment agreements, amendments, benefit descriptions, vehicle or phone allowances, bonuses, separation agreements, and board approvals.
Privacy and identifiers
Public bodies may redact Social Security numbers, bank information, home addresses, or other protected information. A focused compensation request ordinarily does not need those fields.
Ask the payroll system to speak for itself
A request that asks a public body to calculate “total compensation” invites disagreement about what to include. An existing payroll export is usually more useful. Specify the fields maintained by the system—regular pay, overtime, premium pay, allowances, reimbursements, and gross pay—and perform the analysis yourself.
Employment agreements and separation documents answer different questions from payroll. Request them when investigating executive compensation, special benefits, severance, vehicle allowances, or terms approved outside the ordinary pay schedule.
Requester checklist
- Time period
- Existing payroll export
- Field list
- Overtime and allowances
- Employment contracts
- No sensitive identifiers requested
Primary sources
External authorities control. Confirm the current statute, decision, policy, and local procedures before relying on them.