Michigan begins paying $ 300 COVID-19 unemployment to eligible residents

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan has began making COVID-19 unemployment payments of $ 300 a week eligible residents who have been affected by the pandemic.

According to the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, the state began issuing payments to about 365,000 applicants this weekend.

Pandemic unemployment compensation payments take place between December 27, 2020 and March 13, 2021. They provide an additional benefit of $ 300 per week to applicants in Michigan who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Claimants do not have to take steps to receive additional payments. These will be paid automatically after certification.

READ: Whitmer signs $ 106 million aid bill, extends COVID-19 unemployment benefits until March

“The UIA team worked tirelessly to ensure that Michigan was one of the first states to implement the PUC program,” said Liza Estlund Olson, UIA’s interim director. “Now that we have received additional USDOL guidance, we remain committed to implementing the other federal PUA and PEUC programs as soon as possible to get the money out the door.”

Workers who have received pandemic unemployment assistance and pandemic emergency unemployment compensation should not take any action. They will not be able to complete the certifications, and the payments will not be issued weeks after December 26 until the technical updates of the UI system are completed, according to state officials.

This will only be a disruption, and the applicants will be removed once the extensions are fully implemented, the state said in a statement. Estimated completion date is not yet available.

“It simply came to our notice then they will not miss any benefit and they will receive every dollar they are entitled to once the programs are fully implemented, ”Olson said.

PEUC provides an additional 11 weeks of benefits for those who have exhausted regular state unemployment benefits. The AAP provides unemployment benefits to those who are not normally eligible for unemployment, including the self-employed and concert workers.