Whitmer signs bill clarifying eligibility for pandemic unemployment benefits

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill into law on Monday that makes clear that part-time workers were eligible for federal pandemic unemployment benefits.

Before the law, there was confusion over a question about being "able and available" for full-time work. Some part-time workers answered "no," disqualifying them from benefits even though they may have been entitled to them. Others answered "yes," but the agency later determined they weren't eligible for full-time work, and they received overpayment letters.

The bill, which amends the Michigan Employment Security Act, fixes a discrepancy between state law and wording in the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which expanded benefits to cover freelancers, contract workers, part-time workers and others impacted by the pandemic.

"The changes in this legislation will streamline our unemployment system and provide relief to Michiganders who needed these federal benefits,” Whitmer said in a news release issued Monday.

The legislation, Senate Bill 445, passed the Michigan Senate unanimously and the Michigan House by a 101-3 vote.

"To me, this was just a perfect example of putting the box-checking and bureaucratic needs above the needs of the citizens and the true intent of the law," state Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, who sponsored the bill, said about the discrepancy.

Irwin said he first learned of the discrepancy from a constituent who was working in the retail industry part time because of a disability. This person applied for jobless benefits in the pandemic, and was denied because they said they weren't able and available for full-time work. But the federal PUA program was set up to cover individuals who typically wouldn't be eligible for state benefits, including part-time workers.

This constituent wasn't the only Michigan resident who found themselves in this situation, Irwin said.

"A whole class of people are being denied benefits because they're not checking the 'able and available' box on their MiWAM accounts," Irwin said. MiWAM is the name of the system used to apply for benefits.

Between this new law and recent guidance from the federal government for applying blanket waivers for overpayments when the claimant is not at fault, Irwin said many of the pieces should be in place to "sweep away these fights with the agency that are unnecessary, unproductive and that we shouldn't be having."

"Then what the agency can do is focus on the real cases of fraud," he said. "We can make sure the people who were gig workers, disabled part-time workers or all these other real-life folks who were sidelined because of the pandemic can just stop fighting with the agency and the agency can stop fighting with them."

When asked last week about the status of waivers for overpayments due to a variety of reasons, including the "able and available" question, Nick Assendelft, a spokesperson for Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency, said the agency is working with federal and state partners to understand the guidance.

"This guidance is nuanced and there are several broad categories of overpayments to evaluate," he said.

David Blanchard, an employment lawyer with the Ann Arbor law firm Blanchard & Walker, said while he thought the federal guidance on who was eligible for PUA benefits was already clear, the new law is "a very welcome clarification."

Earlier in the pandemic, one of Blanchard's clients appealed a decision by the agency that she owed $10,000 back in jobless benefits because the agency later determined that she wasn't able and available for full-time work. His client worked part time before the pandemic because of a disability.

That decision was appealed to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Commission and designated a "Matter of First Impression" because the decision could inform how future cases on this issue may be handled. The commission has yet to rule on the matter.

Blanchard said the law ensures some of the most vulnerable workers in the pandemic, such as caregivers who lost part-time work, are eligible for benefits.

Both Blanchard and Irwin said they're cautiously optimistic that Michigan's UIA will be able to quickly act on the new law, determining who these claimants are, issue determinations or redeterminations based on this information and allow claimants to requalify for the weeks they were denied.

More: New waiver guidance could help Michiganders who received unemployment overpayment letters

More: Several Michigan unemployment insurance claimants file class-action lawsuit against agency

The new law affects PUA claims filed after March 1, 2020, for those who had issues due to only being available for part-time work. The PUA program ended in September 2021.

Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer signs bill clarifying eligibility for pandemic jobless benefits