PUA, PEUC Claimants Can Reopen, Certify Unemployment Claims

The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency has updated its system and is now allowing for more claims with recently extended federal unemployment insurance.

The Cares Act was temporarily interrupted in December, which many businesses relied on throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now the Continued Assistance Act is extending that and allowing for 11 additional weeks of benefits.

Anyone who claimed benefits using the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation is eligible.

PUA

• New PUA claims can now be filed online at .
• PUA claimants who exhausted their original entitlement of benefits prior to Dec. 26, 2020 can also now reopen their claim to receive an additional 11 weeks of benefits, payable retroactively, beginning with the week ending Jan. 2, 2021. Claimants have or will receive notification by email, through their MiWAM account or by mail alerting them to the availability of the additional weeks.
• A new provision under the CAA requires PUA claimants to submit proof of employment or self-employment to maintain eligibility. For example, claimants need documentation showing their employment or self-employment for the tax year prior to when they filed their original claim for benefits. Individuals who filed their original PUA claim in 2020 need documentation to support employment in 2019. New PUA applications filed in 2021 should include supportive documentation of employment in 2020.

• Appropriate documents can include tax documents, paycheck stubs, state or federal employer identification numbers, business licenses, business receipts or a signed affidavit.
• Claimants should not submit this documentation until they receive a notice instructing them where to upload it and the timelines for doing so.

PEUC

• PEUC claimants who exhausted their previous entitlement will be able to reopen their claim to receive an additional 11 weeks of benefits, payable retroactively, beginning with the week ending Jan. 2, 2021. Claimants have or will receive notification by email, through their MiWAM account or by mail alerting them to the availability of the additional weeks.
• Workers on regular state UI benefits will no longer receive the PEUC extension automatically. The CAA now requires workers to submit an application. Once a worker has exhausted their state UI benefits, they will need to log into their MiWAM account and click on, “Additional Information Required – click here to file an extension.”

Those who lost out on benefits prior to Dec. 26 can apply for an additional 11 weeks of benefits. Those benefits will be paid back retroactively.

Payments will also include a $300 federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation weekly benefit. Those benefits will last from the week ending on Jan. 2 to March 13.