LANSING, Mich. — There's progress in the effort to help people who received unemployment benefits during the pandemic and have since been told they must repay the money.
A federal audit found the state overpaid billions of dollars in benefits. After the report came out, the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) started sending some recipients letters telling them they had to repay thousands of dollars.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer's office said on Monday that the federal government approved the state's request for additional waivers for some of those who were overpaid.
“Michiganders should not be penalized for doing what was right at the time they applied for federal pandemic benefits,” said Gov. Whitmer. “Coupled with the waivers we applied earlier, we are looking to help Michiganders who needed unemployment benefits to pay their bills, keep food on the table, and continue supporting small businesses. I look forward to working with our legislative partners to continue putting Michiganders first and keeping more money in their pockets.”
The list of new qualifications are listed below.
- An individual responded “no” to being able and available for work and the state issued payment for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation without adjudicating the eligibility issue.
- An individual was eligible for payment and the state issued payment at a higher rate Weekly Benefit Amount under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.
- The individual responded “no” to being unemployed, partially unemployed or unable or unavailable to work due to the approved coronavirus-related reasons, and the state paid Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. When asked to self-certify, the individual did not respond or confirmed that none of the approved coronavirus-related reasons applied and the state issued payment, resulting in overpayment for the week.
- The individual submitted required proof of earnings used to calculate Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Weekly Benefit Amount and the state incorrectly processed the calculation resulting in a higher weekly benefit amount under the PUA program.
- The individual submitted proof of self-employment earnings to establish eligibility for Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation Program and the state incorrectly processed the information, resulting in overpayment.
“This is an important next step in the UIA’s proactive efforts to resolve outstanding issues for any Michigan claimant now being asked to repay benefits through no fault of their own,” UIA Director Julia Dale said. “We appreciate the USDOL’s swift action to provide much needed relief through expanded waivers for Michigan workers who received federal pandemic unemployment benefits.”
As UIA makes waiver determinations, they will notify claimants by letter and through their MIWAM accounts of any change in the status of their cases.
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