The bill amends the Michigan Employment Security Act by adding a new section, 32f, which mandates the unemployment insurance agency to retain digital images of claimants' original applications and certifications for a minimum of seven years. These digital images must include a time stamp indicating when the agency received the documents. The bill also stipulates that these images must be securely stored in compliance with established data security policies and standards, ensuring access is restricted to authorized users and that encryption is utilized.

Furthermore, the bill outlines that the retained digital images must be made available to claimants, their authorized representatives, the auditor general, or members of the legislature for purposes such as administrative hearings, audits, and legislative oversight hearings. The unemployment insurance agency is required to conduct an annual audit of the digital image retention system and report the findings to the legislative leaders. Non-compliance with these provisions could result in a civil fine of $5,000 per month, which would be deposited into the general fund.

Statutes affected:
House Introduced Bill: 421.1, 421.75