The estate of Michigan provides unemployment compensation to those who meet the requirements. You may receive benefits for a minimum of 14 weeks and up to a maximum of 26 weeks unless the unemployment

Compensation benefit is based on family benefits. If this is your situation payments can not be received for more than 7 weeks. The actual amount that you can receive is not more than $362 and not less than $81. First you must make sure that you are eligible for benefits and the first thing to check is your wage record during the base period. If you are not sure what that is, don´t worry it is not difficult to discover your base period. Just look back to the last 5 calendar quarters before you claim for unemployment benefits. The first four of these is considered to be your base period and the quarter when you earned your highest wages is the one which decides the weekly amount that you will receive. If for some reason you find that you don´t qualify on that basis there is another way you could qualify for benefits. This is by counting the four calendar quarters immediately before you file your claim.

The alternative base period could be used to qualify you for benefits – this is called The Alternative Earnings Qualifier and you can be accepted on that basis if you had earned wages in at least two quarters and the total amount earned was above $13,564.60. It may be your case that you apply again for benefits less than six calendar quarters after your last benefit year finished.

The benefit year is 52 consecutive weeks starting when you file for benefits. If you subsequently worked before the present benefit year began and your employer paid not less than 5 times the amount you were receiving during your previous benefit year, you can be accepted as qualifying for benefits. At this moment you qualify financially for benefits – however it is also required that you are ready and willing to work if a suitable job is offered and you should be actively looking for employment.

The weekly amount you receive in benefit payments can include those who depend on you for example a spouse (husband or wife) or a child. The amount for each dependant is $6 and as many as 5 dependents may be added. As we said before, the earnings you received in your high quarter are your basis for the amount you will get each week as benefits.

To make the calculation you just multiply this high quarter amount by 4.1% (0.041) and round it down to the nearest dollar. Add to the total the amount you are due for dependents and that will be your weekly benefit amount. If you would like to calculate the number of weeks that you can claim benefits you can do so by multiplying you total base period earnings by 40% (0.4) and dividing this total by the Weekly Benefit Amount.

This is the final article in a three-article series on the resources available to unemployed workers in Michigan. These articles offer practical and up-to-date information on the resources available to Michigan citizens with financial difficulties due to unemployment.

In our final article we will discuss health insurance and foreclosure assistance programs. Finding suitable housing and healthcare are two of the biggest problems for unemployed workers who see their main source of income disappear. Tragically, in most cases families receive their health insurance through the main breadwinner’s employment. When the employment ends, so does the preferential rate of insurance. This often makes it impossible for workers to afford health insurance, only worsening the situation for them and their families.

Homeowners who lose their employment also find themselves without the income they relied on to pay for their mortgage. If they fall behind their payments it doesn’t take long for lenders to file for foreclosure. Once unemployed, finding suitable housing for a family can be a challenge with landlords requiring proof of income.

The programs we detail in this article provide practical assistance in these areas for unemployed workers in the State of Michigan.

Health Assistance

MIChild:
Insurance program for uninsured children administered by the Department of
Community Health (MDCH).
1-888-988-6300
www.michigan.gov/mdch

Medicaid Help Line:
Administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS)
1-800-642-3195
www.michigan.gov/dhs

Free Clinics of Michigan (FCOM): Network of volunteer-staffed free clinics that provide health care services to the uninsured or medically underserved.

1-888-877-6769
www.FCOMI.org

Prescription Assistance Service is also available to unemployed workers who cannot benefit from the reduced prices offered to workers with health insurance. There are several programs offering prescription assistance each with their own rules and requirements. Use the contact information below to contact them and ask for more information.

Michigan Prescription Drug Discount Card is administered by the Department of Community Health (MDCH). The MiRx card is a way for Michigan residents who do not have prescription drug coverage to get their medication for less
money at participating pharmacies.
MiRx Enrollment Hotline: 1-866-755-6479
www.michigan.gov/mdch

Rx Assist: Searchable database of prescription assistance programs.
n/a www.rxassist.org

World Medical Relief 313-866-5333 www.worldmedicalrelief.com

Partnership for Prescription Assistance 1-888-477-2669 www.pparxmi.org

Pfizer Inc. 1-866-706-2400 www.pfizerhelpfulanswers.com

Lilly Cares 1-800-545-6962 www.lillycares.com

Foreclosure

Foreclosure assistance is offered by the Foreclosure Prevention Counselors at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. This program offers households facing foreclosure with free assistance from foreclosure prevention counselors who will help you apply for state and federal foreclosure programs. Visit www.michigan.gov/helpinghand for more information or call 1-866-946-7432.

This series of articles provides practical information on the programs available to unemployed households in the state of Michigan. Our previous article focused on programs that offered information and access to resources offered by other agencies. This article highlights programs offered directly by the government and private agencies that promote them.

Job Assistance

The state of Michigan has two main job assistance programs: Michigan Works! and Talent Bank Help Line. The Michigan Works! program is an employment database which links workers and employers and provides workers with access to educational and training programs. This includes assistance with preparing resumes, recommendation letters and to prepare for job interviews.

The Talent Bank Help line is also managed by Michigan Works! but allows citizens to access job assistance services over the phone instead of the internet.  To access this program call 1-888-253-6855 or visit www.michworks.com.

Unemployment Insurance Agency

The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency is Michigan’s primary source of financial assistance for unemployed workers. However, this service is not for everyone. You must meet financial and legal requirements to qualify for unemployment benefits. For instance, to qualify for benefits you must have received a minimum amount of income set by the Unemployment Insurance Agency, have lost your job due to no fault of your own and be willing and able to work.

Utility Assistance Programs

The state of Michigan offers low-income citizens help with their utility bills through four main programs: Consumers Energy (1-800-477-5050), DTE Energy (1-800-477-4747), SEMCO Energy (1-800-624-2019) and the Michigan Energy Assistance Directory. The Michigan Energy Assistance Directory  is an online directory which offers information on both private and public energy assistance programs. Visit www.dleg.state.mi.us/mpsc/winterwise/energy_assistance.htm for more information.

The services offered by these programs include financial assistance to cover energy expenses, grants and low-cost loans for home improvements to save on energy consumption, such as insulation, solar and wind energy. Other programs allow Michigan workers to average out their energy bills throughout the year as a type of saving plan for the higher energy costs of the winter months.

These programs are not available to everyone. You must meet certain financial requirements, such as your income level, and the assets available to you. Visit the official websites of these programs (links above) and find out how much you could get in help for you and your family.

Are you in a situation where working is costing you money? Where having a job is actually maybe worse than not having one at all? This seems to be the situation of one of our readers’ son. We received the question below from Tammy Nelson and thought it was such a good question we should publish the answer for others in similar situations to read also.

I just have a question. My son receives unemployment but also has a job. He worked 2 jobs and lost 1, that’s why he receives unemployment. His job has been scheduling him only 1 day a week and it’s hurting him financially. Can he get denied his unemployment if he quits that other job? Also, what if he gets a part time job in another state, can he transfer his unemployment benefits, or how does that work?

Although we would need more information on the specific circumstances of Tammy’s son, the quick answer is he can get denied unemployment benefits if he quits his job. The Michigan unemployment insurance program is for workers who lose their job out of no fault of their own and quitting because you feel you will get more money from unemployment benefits qualifies as “your fault”. However, this doesn’t mean Tammy’s son does not have options.

First, you could apply for unemployment benefits based on the loss of your first job. Of course, you will need to meet the eligibility requirements set by the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. These include financial and legal requirements such as the reason you left your first job and how much income you earned during your base period. Click here for more information.

Second, you can ask your current employer to join the state shared work program. This is a program for companies who are forced to reduce the work hours they can offer their employees. From what you mentioned in your comment, this seems to be what is happening in this case. The employer can then apply for financial assistance for their workers and bring their wages to the equivalent of unemployment benefits.

About the part time job in another state, the same rules apply as if he worked in the same state. If he is on unemployment benefits and is working, he will need to declare his income. Each unemployed worker on benefits has an amount of income he can make while on benefits without any deductions taking place, but whatever you make over this amount is deducted from your benefits dollar for dollar.

Unemployment benefits in the State of Michigan are not for all workers who lose their jobs. It is not even for all workers who lose their jobs due to no fault of their own, although that is a qualifying requirement. There are financial requirements besides the legal requirements that restrict unemployment benefits to workers who have been fired, resign or who do not wish to actively search for work. This article will look at these financial requirements as they stand in 2011. These requirements change on a regular basis, so it is important to have the latest information.

Standard Base Period

This is the period of time used to assess the financial requirements of the unemployment program. It includes the first four quarters of the last five completed quarters. Attention must be paid to include only completed quarters. A year’s quarters are January to March, April to June, July to September and October to December. For example, if you lose your job in August, the first quarter of the five used to measure your standard base period is April to June.

Alternate Base Period

Michigan’s unemployment insurance program can choose to apply an alternative base period for workers who do not qualify under the standard base period. This alternative period includes the four most recent completed quarters. Workers who have received higher wages in their last quarter will benefit from this alternative base period, which will either allow them to qualify for benefits or even increase the payment they would receive under the standard base period.

Qualifying Requirements

There are two main financial qualifying requirements: the total income earned during the base period (standard or alternative, whichever is applied) and the income in the highest earning quarter.

To qualify for benefits the wages in the highest earning quarter of a worker must amount to at least $2,871 and the total wages during the entire base period must be at least $4,306.50. This total amount is calculated by multiplying the minimum amount of the highest earning quarter by 1.5.

Alternate Financial Requirements

There are also alternative financial requirements for workers who do not qualify under the standard requirements. Under these requirements, workers must have earned wages in at least two of the quarters in their base period and the total income during the base period must be at least 20 times the average weekly wage of the State of Michigan. In 2011 that amounts to 20 times $823.35, or $16,467. This alternative earnings qualifier does not really help workers to qualify for benefits.

The rules that govern the extended benefits program are designed to allow access to it only to states which have a high-unemployment rate. However, that is only part of it. As we mentioned in our previous post, the rule states the insured unemployment rate must be 20 percent higher during the current 13-week average than the equivalent period of the last two years. This means the program is set to only work for states which have a high-unemployment rate that is also getting worse through time. If a state’s insured unemployment is high but not any worse than previous years it will, under this rule, lose its right to extended benefits.

Fortunately for states like Michigan, which has had a high-unemployment rate for over three years and only seen modest improvements, there are alternative rules the state legislature can apply if it wishes. This article will look at the two alternatives open to states to stretch their eligibility for extended benefits.

Alternative Automatic Trigger

Instead of the insured unemployment rate, IUR, states can opt for a different automatic trigger for extended benefits. The alternative trigger also uses the insured unemployment rate but the trigger point is set at 6 percent not 5 percent. However, eligibility is not linked to the unemployment rate worsening, as long as the unemployment rate is 6 percent or higher the state qualifies for extended benefits.

Alternative Option

In addition to the two automatic triggers available to states there is an alternative method that uses a different type of unemployment rate to determine eligibility: the total unemployment rate, or TUR. This option must be chosen by the Michigan legislature before it can be used to determine eligibility. Some states have chosen not to opt in to this alternative trigger method while others, such as Michigan and South Carolina, have already chosen it.

This trigger determines any state with a total unemployment rate of 6.5 percent or higher with at least 10 percent higher unemployment rate than the previous 2 years qualifies for 13 weeks of extended benefits. The same rule determines that states with an 8 percent total unemployment rate which is 10 percent higher than the two previous years may also qualify for an extra seven weeks, which brings the the total to 20 week of extended benefits. 

This program is funded as a 50-50 partnership between the federal and local state governments. Some states such as North Carolina have decided not to choose option 2, while others, such as Michigan, have chosen to extend their eligibility to extended benefits.

Extended Benefits are the last resort for unemployed workers who cannot find employment after exhausting state unemployment insurance and emergency unemployment compensation. It provides Michigan workers with an extra 20 weeks of financial assistance before all unemployment benefits are terminated.

However, not all states have access to this federal program. What determines if a state is eligible for extended unemployment benefits? Can a state lose its right to extended benefits once it has started receiving payments? Is there anything the state government can do to continue payments? This series of two articles will deal with these and other questions by providing a brief summary on the the extended benefits and how this program is managed in the state of Michigan.

When are extended benefits granted?

Extended benefits are not a permanent fixture of the federal unemployment insurance program. The federal unemployment insurance focuses on the state-federal unemployment insurance program which offers workers 20 to 26 weeks of benefits, depending on the state. In Michigan it is 26 weeks.

However, in periods of high-unemployment the federal government funds extra programs to help long-term unemployed workers. These programs are the emergency unemployment compensation, EUC, program and the extended benefits, EB, program. The first program to kick in is the extended unemployment benefits. Extended benefits is a secondary program, which as with the extended unemployment benefits is a voluntary program states can opt-in or opt-out of.

There are two formats to the extended benefits program. The basic format is made up of 13 weeks of additional benefits for states with especially high unemployment rates. States also have the option of starting a voluntary program in tandem with the extended benefits, which extends the program by seven additional weeks, bringing the maximum weeks available to 20 weeks. The State of Michigan enacted legislation in April 13, 2009 allowing workers in Michigan to benefit from 20 weeks of extended benefits—the maximum allowed by employment law.

Workers receiving extended benefits receive the same weekly amount they received when they were in the state unemployment insurance program. The 20 weeks available to Michigan workers represents 80 percent of the total unemployment benefits available under the state unemployment program. The total amount of weeks available between the state UI program, the emergency unemployment compensation program and the extended benefits program is 99 weeks.

However, we have still not fully answered the question we began our article with: what triggers the extended benefits program? This we will discuss in the second and last article of this series on the extended benefits, EB, program

Are you underemployed? What does that mean, you may ask. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance provides help not only to unemployed workers but also underemployed, so you may be eligible for help without even  realizing it.

Underemployed workers are workers who receive some income in a week but is still eligible for temporary unemployment benefits from the Michigan UI program. So, how can you know if you are eligible for underemployment benefits? Can full-time workers receive this kind of assistance? If not, what are the requirements to be considered and underemployed workers? These are some of the questions this article will answer.

What does the law say about underemployment?

Unemployment describes a worker who has no work whatsoever. If you are receiving unemployment insurance benefits and cannot find any type of employment you are considered unemployed. However, if your hours have been reduced due to no fault of your own or you found some side-work while you were receiving unemployment benefits, you are considered underemployed. It is important to understand the distinction between a part-time worker who works less than 40 hours a week out of choice and someone who had a full time job and whose hours were reduced due to lack of work. According to Section 48 of the Michigan Employment Security Act you must be either unemployed or underemployed to receive temporary unemployment financial assistance.

Can full-time workers receive underemployment benefits?

No, only workers who work less than a full-time week due to no fault of their own can qualify for underemployment benefits.

How does the Michigan UI determine how much underemployment benefits you receive?

The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency tries to balance between encouraging unemployed workers to find whatever work they can while searching for a full-time or better job and only providing financial assistance to those that need it.

How does it draw the line between those who can receive underemployment benefits?

The Michigan Unemployment Insurance program uses a formula to determine how much a worker can receive in unemployment benefits when they receive some other type of work. Incidentally this income does not only include regular wages and salaries, it also includes rent and board, interest or investment dividends and cash payments for odd-jobs. It is important to include any income you earn during a week you claim for UI or extended unemployment benefits or your claim could be permanently cancelled. Failure to declare income could also lead to fines and other disciplinary measures.

The United States in general, and the state of Michigan in particular, are experiencing a period of unprecedentedly high unemployment rates. This caused the federal government to introduce the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program and the Extended Benefits. As more and more workers are forced to apply for this program, more questions about the process and eligibility requirements of the system are being asked. We receive queries from many of our readers on Michigan’s EUC benefits. We include a sample of these questions and their answers below.

What is the federal law behind the EUC program?

That would be public law 110-252. This law allows a minimum of 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits to all states. However, states with a high unemployment rate can qualify for up to 53 weeks.

Who is Eligible?

To qualify for EUC benefits you must be unemployed due to no fault of your own and meet the requirements of Michigan’s UI state benefits system. You must have exhausted your UI benefits and still be fit and willing to work.

How much will I get?

You will receive the same weekly benefit amount you received when you were under the Michigan UI program. The current maximum weekly benefit amount is $362.

Do I still need to report my bi-weekly claims?

Yes you do. You choose whether to do this online, over the phone or by mail. Phone or online are the preferred methods. Mail claims are only allowed due to special circumstances.

When will the program end?

The last extension of the EUC program set the last week you can claim for EUC benefits till June 9, 2012. However, you will not be able to establish a tier 1 claim after December 31, 2011. Nevertheless, if you are already registered with the EUC program you can continue receiving payments (as long as you qualify) up until the last week of the program.

Who pays for EUC benefits?

All the costs of this program are covered by the Federal government. This means employers are not required to pay for this through their unemployment insurance and will not receive monetary determinations for applications to EUC benefits.

When should I apply?

Wait for the application to be sent by mail. You will receive a form when you are soon to run out of benefits, if you qualify for the program. If you have any question or problem call 1.866.500.0017.

MARVIN

This system allows you to fill in the claim form by using a phone. However, not any phone will work. You phone must be a touch tone or a push button phone. Note that in some phone’s you must push a switch to “tone” for it to work. Old phones that do not have a tone option will not work.

This system allows Michigan’s UIA to deal with up to 800 calls at any given moment, a huge improvement to the agency’s previous call capacity. MARVIN also has the added benefits of never getting tired, it never makes a mistake (unless its programmers do) and doesn’t complain about working on weekends.

MARVIN can also be used to get information on your benefit payments. For instance, if you wish to know how much your last weekly benefit amount was and when the payment was made, you can find this information by calling MARVIN’s toll free number.

The toll free number for MARVIN is 1.866.638.3993. You can also use MARVIN’s online version by clicking on this link.

How Does It Work?

Once your application for UI, EUC or EB benefits has been approved you are required to use MARVIN to file for weekly benefits. After making your initial claim, you will need to report your claim to MARVIN every two weeks.

The date and time you should file your claim will depend on your social security’s last two digits. Below we include a table with the schedule.

To illustrate, if your SSN ends in 81, you should call MARVIN on Wednesdays at 12:00 to 1:00 PM. However, if you apply online you can apply at any time on any day.

What If I Have Some Problems Using MARVIN?

If you have any problems with the system you can call 1.866.500.0017 and press option 3. This number is active from 8.00 am to 6:00 pm on any weekday. You can also ask for help online by using the Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency’s Virtual Problem Resolution Center at the UIA’s website.