GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — With a record number of people filing for unemployment due to the economic crisis spawned from the coronavirus pandemic, the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency has been flooded with calls for help.
Some are still finding it difficult to get their claim processed, including freelancers and gig workers. Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said it's important to have some perspective during this unprecedented time.
"We've had over a million people become unemployed in the last six weeks," she said. "We have been able to make sure that over 820,000 people have gotten the assistance that they've earned. That's a remarkable thing."
That means about 180,000 people are still waiting to receive assistance. Whitmer said the UIA has quadrupled the number of people who are answering phones and questions at the agency.
In order to answer some frequently asked questions about unemployment, the UIA of Michigan Deputy Director Kimberly Berry sat down with 13 ON YOUR SIDE.
Q: How is UIA dealing with high call volume?
Kimberly Berry: We’re started by increasing our staff by a couple hundred. And as we see the need, we continue to do it. So we are continuing to hire staff as we progress.
Q: I filed my claim but have not seen any funds. What more can I do?
Berry: There is nothing else for them to do at this moment right now. I think one of the misconceptions is that as soon as they file they are immediately given the benefits. And that is not necessarily the case. Once they file they’re claim it takes a couple of days to get what is called a “Monetary determination” which tells them if they’re approved, how much money they are going to get. And from that document it could take about two weeks maybe three before they’re even certified. So I think the process is confusing for people who have never filed for unemployment before with a pandemic unemployment assistance program. It will probably take a good 17 days before they actually get the monetary determination to tell them when to certify.
Q: Can I email someone at UIA directly?
Berry: Unfortunately there is not. The only thing we can ask is that they continue to contact us through the MiWAM account. They have a web notice page there where they can send a web notice if they have any questions. Just do it one time. You don’t need several notices for the same question. As we’re increasing and ramping up staff on the phones we’re also ramping up our staff on viewing claims for whatever reason.
Q: If a claim is filed incorrectly, will UIA contact me directly?
Berry: Absolutely. We’re going to respond to them even if they if something wrong because that process is a denial. So we respond by saying, you were denied and this is the reason why. So for instance, people who applied for unemployment that were self-employed, 1099s, gig workers, they weren’t applicable for the regular unemployment, but what they could file for is the pandemic unemployment assistance. And so initially what we do is send them an email saying ‘Hey, you don’t qualify for UI, but you may qualify for pandemic assistance.' And then we tell them how to do that.
Q: If I can’t get in touch with UIA during the day, can I try calling at night?
Berry: Our phone hours have been extended from 8 a.m. to to 6 p.m. Know that our staff stay on the line until the very end. So it's not like at 6 o'clock we hang up the phone; we stay until every call is answered. Same thing with our chat we stay on until every chat is responded to. We also have Saturday hours from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again we aren’t done at 2 if the work is still there. If there are calls in the cue, we are there processing those claims as well past 2 p.m.
Q: If I can’t file my claim, will I no longer be eligible for assistance as time progresses?
Berry: I want them to be aware that we back date. So for instance if they don’t get until tomorrow but they are actually laid off back in the beginning of march, it actually backdates all the way to the beginning of when they first were not working or when they were first impacted by COVID-19 so we don’t just say ‘oh sorry form today forward is when you get your benefits,’ we actually backdate it to when their claim initially started.
Q: How long does the process take?
Berry: Once you file your claim, you can expect to receive a monetary determination. If you have a straight claim it will be a fast determination. But remember once you see that monetary determination, if you receive a determination after a week, it will take two weeks after that to actually call and certify. But in your monetary determination it will tell you your date to certify. So it may be approximately 17 to 21 days before you see a payment at your door if it’s a clean claim. If it's one that has to be investigated we have more questions for the claimant, we have more questions from the employer. You got to remember some of these people are not in their brick and mortar buildings so we have to figure out how to call the employer as opposed to waiting for them to get the paperwork we need. So that could take a bit longer and that’s out of control but we are trying to reach out the employers. We moved a ton of staff from one area to a different area to try to help adjudicate claims for people that are held. So know that we are being aggressively attacking for those people.
Berry: We understand the frustration please know that we are not used to this. It’s a volume of unprecedented numbers for this nation, not just Michigan. Our volume is so drastic and so huge that we are trying to attack it as best we can. We are always monitoring our staffing, we are always looking at our service to make sure people can get through online. We’re always making sure our phone system can answer to the best of our capability. So know while we understand that they are frustrated, we are too because we want to do more we are trying to do more. So just bear with us and hang in there a little bit longer, we promise you we are going to make sure that everybody who is eligible for unemployment benefits will receive those benefits. We’re trying to go as fast as we can. Please don’t be nervous about that if you finally get through that its over because its not over we are going to back date those claims. So we are still here for you.
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