Governor Whitmer issued an Executive Order (E.O.) today providing a temporary expansion in unemployment insurance (UI) eligibility and cost-sharing to help businesses manage through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The E.O., which is effective through April 14, will:
- Expand UI eligibility to those are in self-isolation or self-quarantine in response to elevated risk from COVID-19 due to being immunocompromised, displaying the symptoms of COVID-19, having contact in the last 14 days with someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, the need to care for someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, or a family care responsibility as a result of a government directive (e.g., school closure). This provision applies to circumstances related to “voluntary quits,” “leaving work involuntarily for medical reasons” and lay-offs or leaves of absence related to quarantine, self-isolation, risk or care related to COVID-19.
- Expand UI benefits from 20 to 26 weeks on a temporary basis. The intent is to allow the state to draw down Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster dollars to fund the state’s UI program.
- Clarify that UI benefits paid as a result of COVID-19 will not be charged for UI benefits if their employees become unemployed because of an E.O. requiring them to close or limit operations.
- Expand the state’s Work Share program to all employers, regardless of whether the employer’s reserve in the employer’s experience account as of the most recent computation date preceding the date of the employer’s application is a positive number. Work Share is a program that permits employers to maintain operational productivity during declines in regular business activity instead of laying off workers. With the plan, rather than being laid off, eligible employees work a reduced number of hours in the work week and receive a portion of weekly UI benefits. By participating in Work Share, employers are able to retain trained employees and avoid the expense of recruiting, hiring and training new employees.
Eligible employees should apply for unemployment benefits online at Michigan.gov/UIA or 1-866-500-0017. A factsheet on how to apply for benefits can be found here. Additional unemployment resources for employees can be found here and for workers here.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Wendy Block at wblock@michamber.com.