Michigan Unemployment Benefits

Unemployment benefits provided by the Michigan UIA are a cash benefit and do not carry any restrictions on how the money is spent. That being said, it is recommended to spend your benefit wisely continuing to pay utilities, rent or mortgage payments or other debt like credit card bills. Keep in mind that because the unemployment benefits are likley going to be less than your past income you’ll need to focus on core spending like food and bills and some emergency savings and forego spending on less critical items. Michigan UI recognizes that recipients of unemployment benefits are best suited to determine how to allocate their dollars so the emphasis is to put the dollars in your hands in the method that suits you best. This is typically a direct deposit into a checking account or the use of the Chase debit card to carry the benefit in an easily spendable form.

You can work while receiving Michigan Unemployment benefiits but it can only be part time work. The amount of money you receive while working on unemployment will reduce your benefit. If your earnings from the part time work are equal to or less than your weekly amount you receive from Michigan UI your benefit is reduced by .50 for every dollar you earn from the part time work. If your part time work pays more than your weekly unemployment benefit but less than 1.5 times the benefit amount then your total earnings are subtracted from 1.5 times the benefit amount. Keep in mind that in any week where you receive ANY benefit that week is counted toward the total weeks that you are eligible for unemployment benefits. So just because you do not receive full payment of your unemployment benefits due to part time work, that week is still reduced from your total eligible weeks.

The amount of a cash payment you can receive from Michigan Unemployment is determined by the qualifying wages in the base period. This is multiplied by 4.1% and then $6 is added for each dependant that you have. Additional funds may be added by Federal programs that are usually tempoary. The highest amount of a cash weekly unemployment benefit as of 12/2009 is $387 per week. In future years this may increase or decrease depending on inflation and various programs that may or may not be added to the Michigan unemployment insurance program.

Did you know you can get your Michigan UI Benefits either via direct deposit to your bank account or on a Chase debit card? Like any modern governmental agency, the Michigan UIA can deposit your unemployment benefits in your bank account automatically or provide you with a handy debit card to use to access your UI benefits. You just need to select how you want your unemployment benefits handled when you apply. If you don’t choose to have your benefits direct deposited to your bank account you’ll get the UI debit card automatically. If you want to change this and go for the direct deposit, just call 1-866-500-0017 or hit the UIA website www.michigan.gov/uia and make the change online.

If you’ve lost your Michigan UI Debit Card you should report the loss immediately so a replacement can be sent and the old one deactivated.
Chase is the bank that manages the Michigan UI debit card so just give Chase a call and report your UI card lost or stolen and you will receive a replacement. To report your Michigan UI debit card lost or stolen call 1-866-523-2122.