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Employees Covered By Unemployment Insurance
Most services performed by an employee for an employer are covered by unemployment insurance. Even if an employee is temporary or seasonal, or working during a probationary or training period, his or her services are probably covered by unemployment insurance. But employees who are covered by unemployment insurance will be entitled to unemployment benefits only if they earn enough wages, properly file a claim, and meet all other eligibility requirements.
Certain services performed by employees, however, will not qualify them for unemployment benefits, because the services are not covered services.
For example, services performed for a "for-profit" employer by a student as part of a program for academic credit, i.e., "co-op student," are not covered. Neither are services of high school students who are under 18 in the week they perform the service and who work restricted hours or during a school break following which they return to school.
A worker for a religious organization is usually not covered, although some religious groups have volunteered to cover their workers in Michigan.
If the family business is a partnership or sole proprietorship, then a worker is not covered at all by benefits if the business is owned by the worker's child or spouse, or if the business is owned by the worker's parents and the worker is under age 18.