T

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

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.