The rumors of course come before the actual layoffs or down sizing occurs in your office. You hear them in the lunch room, in the break room, and suddenly, what you dismissed as the basic rumors that run through any company come true. You arrive at work to find that pink slip in your locker or on your time card that tells you that you don’t have a job any longer.

So what’s next for you and how to you make sure that you have what you need to keep your financial situation at least stable while you find a new job?

If you’re anything like the rest of us, you turn to unemployment to assist you in keeping your family and your finances together while you seek out a new job, but what if its all new to you and you’re not sure where to start.

Don’t wait! Filing for unemployment should be done as soon as you legitimately can after you are no longer working. Some states require a waiting week, during which you will not gather a check, so as soon as you legitimately know you’re out of work, its time to file for your unemployment compensation. Failing to do so will delay your checks that much longer after you do your waiting time.

You probably won’t be eligible to claim days back to the time you were laid off, so any that you haven’t filed for in a given amount of time, are lost to you.

Filing for unemployment is accomplished most easily by using the Michigan unemployment site, where you can, using your documents and answering questions, file for your initial claim for unemployment compensation online. Using the electronic filing system, you will save a trip to the unemployment office, won’t have to wait in line and quite often will accomplish it far more quickly than you might have if you had gone in person to the office. In addition you can file privately, in your own home, making it less traumatic for you at the same time.

You may also file for your unemployment in Michigan by telephoning the Michigan unemployment automated filing system on the telephone. The number to call to use the telephone filing system is +18663660004.

To apply for your unemployment in Michigan via telephone you may phone the Michigan Unemployment office between 9 and 12:30 or between 1 and 4:30 on weekdays.

You can expect to receive no more than 362 dollars per week on Michigan unemployment benefits. To determine what your checks will be, multiply your highest quarter wages by .041. For each dependent that you have you may add 6 dollars. Round that down to the nearest whole dollar amount. This will be your weekly benefit that will be received under Michigan Unemployment compensation.

The UIA will be using your standard base period to determine if your income allows you to obtain unemployment benefits. The standard includes the base period of the first four of the last five completed quarters before you filed your claim. The four quarters in a year:

January-March, April-June, July to September and October to December.
If you can not qualify in terms of its standard base period, the UIA will verify their income on
“Substitute” base period, the most recent four quarters ended.
There are two ways in which their income can qualify for unemployment uia benefits:

The four calendar quarters in a year are:
January – March, April – June, July – September and October – December.
If you cannot qualify based on your standard base period, the UIA will check your earnings in the “alternate” base period, which is the four most recently completed calendar quarters.
There are two ways in which your earnings may qualify you for unemployment benefits:
• “Regular” qualifying method: (a) For benefit years beginning January 4, 2009, and after,
you must have wages in at least two quarters in your base period. In one quarter, your wages
must be at least $2,871; and (b) total wages for all four quarters must equal at least one and a
half times the highest amount of wages paid in any quarter of the base period. ($2,871 x 1.5 =
$4,306.50)
OR
• Alternate Earnings Qualifier (AEQ): (a) You must have wages in at least two quarters; and
(b) total wages for all four quarters must equal at least 20 times the state average weekly wage
(SAWW). For 2009, the AEQ amount is $16,695.80. [20 x $834.79 (SAWW) = $16,695.80]