BENEFITS ELIGIBILITY REQ.; MODIFY S.B. 501:
ANALYSIS AS ENACTED
Senate Bill 501 (as enacted) PUBLIC ACT 66 of 2021
Senate Committee: Economic and Small Business Development
House Committee: Workforce, Trades, and Talent
RATIONALE
The Michigan Employment Security Act requires an individual applying for unemployment benefits without a specified date to return to work to register for work to be eligible to receive benefits. To fulfill this requirement, the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) previously required by administrative rule that these individuals register in-person for work with Michigan Works!, a workforce development association in the State. In 2019, the UIA discontinued its requirement to register with Michigan Works! and specified that an individual's application for benefits satisfies the Act's requirement. Some believe that the requirement to register with Michigan Works! was beneficial for individuals applying for benefits. Accordingly, it was suggested that the requirement to register for work with Michigan Works! be reinstated by statute.
CONTENT
The bill amended the Michigan Employment Security Act to do the following:
-- Specify that an individual must register for work by registering with a Michigan Works agency after the individual applied for benefits and within the time period prescribed by the UIA to be eligible to receive the benefits.
-- Allow the UIA to extend a waiver of certain requirements for an employee facing a temporary layoff for not more than 90 additional days, if, before the end of the specified waiver period, the employer notifies the UIA that the layoff is an extended layoff and is the result of the retooling of the employer's equipment, a part's shortage, or a temporary production volume adjustment.
-- Modify the requirements for a waiver from May 31, 2021, to July 16, 2021.
The bill took effect July 19, 2021.
Under the Act, an unemployed individual is eligible to receive benefits with respect to any week only if the UIA finds that the individual meets certain requirements. Previously, among other requirements, the UIA had to find that the individual had registered for work. Under the bill, the UIA must find that the individual registered for work by registering with a Michigan Works agency after the individual applied for benefits and within the time period prescribed by the UIA.
The Act allowed the UIA to waive requirements that the individual report, register for work, and be available to perform suitable full-time work if the individual was laid-off and the employer who laid off the individual notified the unemployment agency that the layoff is temporary and that work was expected to be available for the individual within a declared number of days, not to exceed 45 calendar days following the last day the individual worked. Under the bill, the UIA may extend a waiver described above beyond 45 calendar days, but not for more than an additional 90 days, if, before the end of the specified period of the waiver, the employer notifies the UIA in writing or by computerized data exchange that the layoff is an extended layoff and is the result of the retooling of the employer's equipment, a part's shortage, or a temporary production volume adjustment.
The Act specifies that the waiver is not effective unless the UIA receives the notification from the employer before the individual has completed his or her first compensable week following layoff. The bill specifies that if an individual is laid off because of an extended layoff that existed on May 31, 2021, the requirements that the individual must report, must register for work, must be available to perform suitable full-time work, and must seek work may be waived by the UIA if, before July 16, 2021, th