LANSING, Mich. – Michigan has started making the $300 weekly COVID-19 unemployment payments to eligible residents who were affected by the pandemic.
According to the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, the state started issuing the payments to around 365,000 claimants this weekend.
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The Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payments run from Dec. 27, 2020, through March 13, 2021. They offer an additional $300 in benefits per week to Michigan claimants who were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Claimants don’t have to take action to receive the additional payments. They will be paid automatically after being certified.
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“The UIA team worked tirelessly to ensure that Michigan was one of the first states to implement the PUC program,” acting UIA Director Liza Estlund Olson said. “Now that we’ve received additional USDOL guidance, we remain committed to implementing the remaining federal PUA and PEUC programs as quickly possible to get money out the door.”
Workers who were on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation don’t have to take any action. They will not be able to complete certifications and payments will not be issued for weeks after Dec. 26 until the technical updates to the UI system are completed, according to state officials.
This will only be a disruption and claimants will be made whole once the extensions are fully implemented, the state said in a release. An estimated completion date is not yet available.
“These workers should rest assured that they will not miss out on any benefits and will receive every dollar they are entitled to once the programs are fully implemented,” Olson said.
PEUC provides 11 additional weeks of benefits for those who have exhausted regular state unemployment benefits. PUA provides unemployment benefits to those not typically eligible for unemployment including self-employed and gig workers.