MI Adds Staff, Hours To Unemployment Office To Combat Overload

MICHIGAN — The state is adding staff and extending hours in hopes it will ease an unprecedented increase in customers filing unemployment claims due to effects from the coronavirus.

The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced Wednesday that it has extended call center hours by an hour Monday-Friday and and has quadrupled staffing levels over the last several weeks. While normal staffing levels are around 130 employees, the agency had roughly 300 staff answering calls by March 30, the state said in a press release. It is expected there will be around 500 employees by the end of the week, and hundreds more staff will be added to the call center in the coming weeks.

“Thank you to Michigan’s working families for their patience as the UIA continues to provide emergency financial assistance during this unprecedent increase in unemployment claims,” said Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Director Jeff Donofrio. “We continue to ramp up our services to make sure every eligible Michigander receives their benefits as quickly as possible and we’re asking workers to please reserve the phone lines for those who cannot go online or are having trouble with their account."

The state said the best way to file a claim is online, where the process should take about 20-25 minutes.

All Eligible Workers Will Receive Benefits

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Monday told reporters that while the state unemployment system was having some issues, those filing for unemployment would receive their allotted benefits.

The UIA also has assured every eligible worker in Michigan who applies for unemployment benefits will receive them. Workers have 28 days from their last day of work to apply for benefits. Claims will be back-dated to reflect the date on which the claimant was laid-off. If there are continued technical issues with a workers’ account, the UIA will allow additional time to ensure benefits are paid.

Historical Demand
The latest U.S. Dept of Labor report shows that since March 15, more than 420,000 workers filed initial unemployment claims in Michigan. There were more than 127,000 claims filed between March 12-21 and 303,600 between March 22-28. The two weeks prior saw around 10,000 total initial claims filed, which equates to a more than 4,000% increase in initial unemployment claims. The highest week for initial claims during the Great Recession was around 77,000 claims in Jan. 2009.