This is the second part of our guide on Michigan EUC benefits. As we discussed in the previous article, many of our readers have enquired about the process of applying for EUC benefits. There are significant differences with the general system used to apply for Michigan State UI benefits which are important to understand.

First, the process for applying for EUC benefits begins with a written form which will be sent to you when you are close to ending your UI benefits. If you have less than 2 weeks left of your Michigan State unemployment benefits and still have not received a form informing you of your eligibility for EUC benefits and you feel (after reading this article) that you still qualify, contact one of the Michigan Employment Insurance Agency’s Problem Resolution Offices. We include below the contact details for Michigan’s UIA Problem Resolution Offices with Mapquest directions.

Problem Resolution Offices

Once you receive your form by mail you must fill it in and send it back to the address specified in the letter.

Requirements

- You must be unemployed. This may sound obvious, but some workers who have seen their hours reduced may apply for UI benefits without qualifying for EUC benefits. If in doubt, contact one of the PRO offices above.

- You must register with www.MichWorks.org.

- You must update your résumé with Michworks.

- You must make weekly benefit claims either online or overt the phone using MARVIN, Michigan’s automatic claim filing system. The process for this is similar to when you received UI benefits. Our next article will provide extra information on how you should file for EUC benefits using MARVIN. The toll free number you need to use is 1.866.638.3993 or you can click here to file online.

- You must be fit and willing to accept any employment you are qualified for.

If you meet these requirements your application for EUC benefits should be accepted. Again, if you have any issues with your application you can ask for assistance at one of the eight PRO offices in Michigan.

Waiting for the Michigan UIA to assess your unemployment insurance claim can be stressful. Not understanding what the UIA’s determination means once you receive it, is plain frustrating. This series of articles looks into this important form and provides information on what each section means for you. This is the second article on this form and focuses on the meaning of separating employer, base period, alternate base period and the reasons your application could be denied.

Last Employer or Separating Employer: This is the last employer you worked with before claiming for unemployment. This is an important section because many of the reasons your claim can be denied are based on who your separating employer is and the reasons he or she “let you go”.

Separating Reasons: This is the reason you (or your employer) provided for your separation. As you can imagine getting this right is crucial. If the reason for separation is you quitting the job voluntarily or gross negligence, you may not qualify for unemployment. In fact, any reason besides “lack of work” could cause you trouble.

Also, if your separating employer happens to be a family member, or if you are one of the owners of the company, you may only qualify for a reduced period of benefits (generally 7 weeks).

Last Employment Total Wages: This section gives you the total income you received from your last employer. This can determine your eligibility for UI. For example, in some cases you may be required to earn 5 times your weekly benefit amount with your last employer before you can continue receiving benefits.

Base Period Income: This is the amount of money you earned during the first four quarters of the last five. This amount is used to assess your eligibility and determine how many benefit weeks you qualify for. The four quarters in a year are: January to March, April to June, July to September and October to December. If you filed your claim in November your base period would start in June of the same year to July of the previous year.

Alternate Base Period: The Michigan UIA laws allow you to use an alternate base period including the last four quarters, if you do not qualify for UI with the income of a regular base period.

Date Protest Due: You are entitled to appeal against the UIA’s decision. However, for the appeal to be considered you must file it within 30 days of receiving the form. If you are close to the deadline date, fax it.

Your monetary determination form will tell you if your qualify for Michigan Unemployment Insurance Benefits and if you do, how much your will receive. It also explains why a claim is rejected and provides a overview of your income for your last base period. Not sure what a base period is? Don’t worry. This article will provide detailed instructions so you can understand everything you need to know about your monetary determination form.

Benefit Year Begins / Ends Section: This is the first section of your form. It simply provides the date you applied for unemployment benefits (your start date) and the last date you can claim for benefits under this claim (end date). This period is 52 weeks long.

High Quarter: This section details what the Michigan UIA has on record for your claim’s high quarter income . Your high quarter is the quarter (three-month period starting with January-March and ending with October-December) when you earned the highest income. This is important because your weekly benefit amount is determined by what your high quarter income is. Check this amount is correct before filing this form.

Reference Codes: This section explains why your claim is being reviewed, has been cancelled or important information on how you can improve the terms of your claim. For instance, code 6 means you qualify for higher benefits in another state and you should apply for an interstate claim.

Dependents: This section notes how many dependents you claimed for when filing for UIA benefits. The more dependents you have, the higher your WBA will be. To be precise you get $6 per dependent per week. Remember you cannot claim for more than five. However, if the number is wrong contact the UIA immediately and explain what the problem is.

Weekly Benefit Amount: This is probably the first section you looked for when reviewing your form. It includes how much you will receive every week in benefits. To check it is correct, multiply your high quarter income by 0.041, add six dollars for each dependent and round down to the next dollar.

Number of Weeks: This section provides you with the maximum number of weeks you can claim for under your current UIA claim. You can calculate this by yourself by multiplying your total base period wages by 0.43 and dividing by your weekly benefit amount.

Continue reading our second article in this series for more instructions on how to understand your UIA 1575 Form.

Being your own boss isn’t always the dream job it portrayed as. Although setting your own hours and the satisfaction of knowing all your work is going towards your business are nice perks, self employment is not without its drawbacks. For instance, you must pay your own social security, Medicare and you do not receive unemployment benefits. However, it is possible you consider yourself self-employed and still be eligible for unemployment insurance in Michigan. How is this possible?

Let’s start by stating what the Michigan Employment Security Act has to say about unemployment insurance and self-employed workers. For starters, the law says that only insured employees of registered employers in Michigan are eligible for UI benefits. This disqualifies self-employed workers although it does include the employees of self-employed workers. However, the Michigan Employment Security Act defines self-employment by the type of relationship between employer and employee not by the agreement or understanding between two parties. What does this mean? Well, even if you consider yourself self-employed and your have a written agreement to work as a contractor for another individual or company, you are an employee if you meet the definition of an employee as set by the Michigan Employment Security Act.

For example, if you work as a plumbing contractor and invoice a client as a self-employed contractor but use the main contractor’s materials and tools, follow the work schedule set by the main company and barely work for any other clients, you may be considered an employee and therefore deserve to receive unemployment benefits if you lose your job or contract.

So what are the guidelines that determine your status as an employee or self-employed worker? There are several factors the Michigan UIA takes into account when assessing the status of a self employed worker. For example, the UIA may ask the following questions to determine if an employee is being treated as a self-employed worker.

- Is the work carried out by the self-employed worker an integral part of the work generally performed by the main contractor?

- Does the “self-employed” worker depend entirely on the payment (or wages) of a single client?

- What level of control does the self-employed worker have while working? Can he, or she, hire or fire his own workers?

- Does the self-employed worker advertise his or her services elsewhere to the public?

- Does the employee (or self-employed worker) pay for his own materials and tools or does he rely on the materials provided by an employer?

The answer to these questions and the evidence presented by the employer and the employee will determine what status a worker is granted.

he Michigan Unemployment Insurance program encourages workers to accept any type of work they can, even if it is only part-time or temporary. However, many workers shy from accepting odd-jobs and part-time work when unemployed because they fear their unemployment insurance claim could be cancelled.

As long as you follow the rules set by Michigan’s UI regulations you can safely work and claim benefits. However, it is important to understand what these rules are and to claim your UI benefits correctly or your claim could be denied as well as face other disciplinary measures.

These rules can be summarized within one formula, which sets how much money you can earn before your benefits are cancelled. This formula makes sure it is financially worthwhile to work small job while searching for a full-time job. However, you will have to deduct a percentage of your earnings from your weekly benefits.

The Formula

The Michigan UI program allows workers receive UI benefits while they work, although their benefits will be deducted 50 cents for every dollar they make. However, once your total income (including UI benefits and your income) reaches 150 percent of your weekly benefit amount, your Ui benefits will be deducted dollar for dollar.

Example

Let’s illustrate how this would work in the real world. Imagine you receive $300 in UI benefits and earn $160 a week for temporary work. Up until $450 you would only have to deduct 50 cents on the dollar for your income. Once your income exceeds $450 your UI benefits will be deducted dollar for dollar. This means you can never earn more than 150 percent of your UI weekly benefit amount. Following our example above, you would receive a maximum UI benefit amount of $215.

This process can be summarized in the following instructions provided by the Michigan UIA set in 8 easy to follow steps.

WORKSHEET FOR CALCULATING WEEKLY BENEFITS
WHEN UNEMPLOYED WORKER HAS EARNINGS IN THE WEEK

A
Enter the unemployed worker’s weekly unemployment benefit amount.
$300

B
Enter the amount of the unemployed worker’s gross earnings (before taxes) in the calendar week (Sunday through Saturday week). Round down to the nearest whole dollar.
$100

C
Divide "B" by "2".
$100 ÷ 2 = $50

D
Subtract "C" from "A". Round down to the nearest whole dollar. If the result is zero or less than zero, enter "0" as your answer.
$300 – $50 = $250

E
Add together "B" and "D."
$100 + $250 = $350

F
Multiply "A" by 1.5 (that is, 1½)
$300 x 1.5 = $450

G
Subtract "F" from "E". Round down your answer to the nearest whole dollar. If the result is zero or less than zero, enter "0" as your answer.
$350 – $450 = -$100
Enter "0"

H
Subtract "G" from "D". Round down your answer to the nearest whole dollar. The answer you get will be the amount of the unemployed worker’s unemployment benefit payment for the week.
$250 – 0 = $250

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.

When you think of unemployment benefits, you automatically think about the financial assistance provided every week through the Michigan UI program. However, this is only one of the services available to Michigan unemployed workers. This article will focus on some of the most useful and generous services unemployed workers can apply for. We also provide contact details and information on how to apply for each of these programs.

General Services Aid

This includes the main programs people associate with unemployment services. These include Cash Assistance for low-income and needy families, medical services, food assistance and emergency services. These programs are all sponsored by the Department of Human Services and you can find out more information by visiting their official website (click here).

If you are interested in the Food Stamps program you can contact directly by calling 1-800-481-4989.

Health and Insurance Aid

One of the biggest perks of being employed (besides getting a wage) is to be part of a health insurance program. Self-employed and unemployed workers generally have to pay much higher premiums than workers who are part of a medical program. The State of Michigan offers unemployed workers health programs such as Medicaid Help Line (1-800-642-3195), Free Clinics (1-888-877-6769 or www.FCOMI.org) and the Michigan Prescription Drug Discount Card.

Job Assistance

Need help finding a job? Two of Michigan’s UIA biggest departments: Michigan Works! and Talent Bank Help Line are designed to help you find a new job.

Foreclosure Protection

Often losing your work can affect your ability to meet your mortgage payments, which can lead to foreclosure. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) provides counseling and practical assistance to avoid this. This program helps homeowners who have lost their job organize their finances and join government sponsored programs designed to provide temporary assistance to cover mortgage payments while searching for work.

Utility Budget Help

Are you struggling to pay your utility bills? Is there a possibility your service might get cut off? If this is a problem you are going through, you should contact the Consumers Energy (1-800-477-5050), the DTE Energy (1-800-477-4747) or SEMCO Energy (1-800-624-2019) and ask for assistance. They can provide emergency assistance so your heating, water and electricity services are not disconnected.

These are only a small sample of the social programs available to unemployed and underemployed workers in Michigan. If you have any questions on the programs offered by Michigan UIA, please leave a comment below and our team of researchers will be happy to reply any question you may have.

Learn how long you can wait before losing your right to apply for benefits at Michigan's UIA.

Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency has changed names many times throughout the years. It started in 1937 as the Michigan Unemployment Compensation Commission, then became the Michigan Employment Security Commission, after that the Michigan Employment Security Agency and the Bureau of Workers’ & Unemployment Compensation. Now it is called the Unemployment Insurance Agency. What hasn’t changed is the purpose of this organization: to provide a source of income to unemployed workers while they search for work.

A question we have been asked by many workers, unemployed and employed alike, is ‘How long do you have to file for unemployment?’

This is a good question because to answer it you must understand how Michigan’s UIA calculates benefits entitlements.Each state has authority to determine eligibility and benefit payment procedures for its unemployment agency, so it is important to look at the regulations that determine Michigan’s UIA to get a clear answer.

However, before we begin to answer this question, you need to understand two important terms: what a base year or period is and what a high quarter wage is. A base period, or year, is composed of the previous 52 weeks from the date you make your unemployment claim. Michigan requires unemployed workers to show a previous attachment to the workplace to qualify for UI benefits. In other words, to qualify you must have paid a minimum amount of unemployment insurance. This minimum is determined by your high quarter wages. A high quarter is the quarter (set of three months starting from January) you earned the most money. Because, unemployment insurance is determined by wages, the state of Michigan has determined unemployed workers must have high quarter wages of at least 388.06 times the state minimum hourly wage. This translates to $2,871 for benefit years starting after April 1st 2009. Also, your base period (previous 4 quarters or 52 weeks) must contain at least 1.5 times the wages you received in your high quarter.

So in short, once you lose your job and are unemployed, you must apply for unemployment before you no longer qualify for UI benefits. If your previous four quarters do not include a quarter where you earned $2,871 or more, and your total base period does not reach $4,307, you may not qualify for UI benefits.