Workers can access UIA online services on Labor Day; offices, call lines closed

Workers who receive jobless benefits can certify online on Labor Day that they have fulfilled the requirement to search for work. However, certification by phone will not be available since the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) will be closed Monday for the state holiday.

Certification using the Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM) is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by logging on at Michigan.gov/UIA. Workers who are scheduled to certify by calling MARVIN on Monday can instead call on Thursday or Friday next week. Unemployed workers must report once every two weeks that they are jobless and meet the eligibility requirements for benefits.

Because of the holiday, local UIA offices will be closed on Labor Day; the Customer Service and Office of Employer Ombudsman phone lines will not be available; and there may be a slight delay before unemployment benefits are deposited into claimant bank accounts or loaded onto debit cards.

Workers can go to Michigan.gov/UIA at any time to schedule phone, virtual, and in-person appointments; sign up for first-time filer coaching sessions; access the Claimant Roadmap, toolkits, and helpful videos; and find answers to frequently asked questions.

New resources available to workers

The Claimant Roadmap and first-time filer coaching sessions -- along with the UIA Community Connect program -- are new resources to make applying for and understanding benefits easier for workers:

• The Claimant Roadmap: An easy-to-follow, user-friendly six step guide to applying for understanding benefits.
• First-time filer coaching sessions: Online, web-based guidance from UIA staff who will walk users through the steps needed to complete an application and qualify for payments.
• UIA Community Connect program: An equity initiative that partners with local groups throughout the state to provide guidance for workers from underserved groups who have faced barriers when filing for jobless benefits.

More information about these and other resources can be found at Michigan.gov/UIA.

New computer system for workers, employers

Planning has started to replace the decade-old MiWAM computer system used by workers to apply for benefits and employers to pay unemployment insurance taxes. The new system designed by Deloitte 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. It will give UIA significant programming flexibility for system updates in response to quickly changing economic conditions and is expected to be fully operational in early 2025.

The new system rollout highlights Director Julia Dale’s efforts to transform the UIA into a national model for fast, fair, and fraud-free service, including:

• Creating 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.
• Naming a Legal Advisor and creating the Legal and Compliance Bureau to leverage collaborative anti-fraud practices for pursuing bad actors.
• Extending through September 2024 nearly 50 limited term positions in the Fraud and Investigations Division, with plans to hire at least 30 more.
• Revamping 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.

Other significant changes throughout agency

Since being named in October 2021 to lead the UIA – the agency's 11th director in as many years – Director Dale has also:

• 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. To date, 158 individuals have been arrested or charged in connection with unemployment benefits fraud, 79 convicted, and 47 sentenced for their crimes.
• Reassigned staff and resources to address the largest categories of claims that are contributing to the agency’s case backlogs.
• Rebuilt the UI Trust Fund to more than $2.3 billion (and growing), 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 was refunded to workers since May 2022.
• Implemented new ethics and security clearance policies for all employees.

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