UIA offices will close for Juneteenth; filers can certify for benefits online

Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) offices will be closed Monday, June 19, 2023, in observance of Juneteenth. In-person appointments cannot be scheduled at UIA’s 12 Local Offices around the state on the holiday and the Customer Service phone line will not be in operation.

Unemployed workers can certify for benefits online Monday using their Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM) account. However, certification by phone through the Michigan Automated Response Voice Interactive Network (MARVIN) will not be available since offices will be closed. To claim benefits, unemployed workers must report once every two weeks that they are jobless and meet the eligibility requirements for benefits.

Due to the holiday, there may be a slight delay before unemployment benefits are deposited into claimant bank accounts or loaded onto debit cards.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, as the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday is recognized by both the federal and state governments.

Bi-weekly certification is just one of many services available to users through their MiWAM account. Claimants can also access account information, review payment history, update contact information and more. MiWAM is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Claimants may login or sign up for an online account at Michigan.gov/UIA.

UIA has announced a replacement for the decade-old MiWAM computer system used by workers to apply for benefits and employers to pay unemployment insurance taxes. The Deloitte UFACTS system will provide a totally new experience that will be easy to use, speed claims processing, and build on the agency’s aggressive anti-fraud tactics. The new system will provide UIA with significant programming flexibility for system updates in response to quickly changing economic conditions and unemployment rates. It is expected to be fully operational in two years.

A new computer system is a cornerstone of UIA Director Julia Dale’s transformation of the agency into a national model for fast, fair, and fraud-free service. Director Dale was appointed in October 2021, the agency’s 11th director in as many years, and under her leadership the UIA has:

• Created the UIA Modernization Workgroup, consisting of labor, business and jobless advocates to advise the UIA on significant improvements in how it can better serve Michigan workers and employers. 
• Appointed a Legal Advisor and created a Legal and Compliance Bureau that will capitalize on collaborative anti-fraud practices and increase UIA program integrity.
• Collaborated with the Attorney General’s office as well as local, state and federal law enforcement to bring bad actors to justice and combat fraud at the agency. To date, 115 individuals have been charged in connection with unemployment benefits fraud and 46 have entered pleas or been found guilty.
• Identified initiatives and processes that would ease access to jobless benefits for workers in underserved communities under a $6.8 million equity grant from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL).
• Secured a more than $2.3 million equitable access and communications grant from the USDOL Tiger Teams initiative to redesign and simplify how UIA engages with employers and develop a help center for accessing agency services.
• Reassigned staff and resources to address the largest categories of claims that are contributing to the agency’s case backlogs.
• Rebuilt to nearly $2.2 billion (and growing) the UI Trust Fund from which weekly benefits are paid to workers.
• Approved more than 76,000 overpayment waivers (with more to come) of state and federal benefits paid out during the global pandemic, waiving more than $555 million.
• Halted overpayment collections on claims filed since March 1, 2020, while the agency addresses pending protests and appeals. More than $13 million has been refunded to workers since May 2022.
• Reviewed correspondence to add a human-centered approach to make letters easier to understand for claimants and employers.
• Revamped the agency’s public website at Michigan.gov/UIA so it is more user-friendly and responsive for those accessing services using cell phones or tablets.
• Implemented new ethics and security clearance policies for employees and contractors.

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