MiWAM for Claimants – Michigan State – michigan.gov/uia

MiWAM for Claimants Guide:- In the state of Michigan, Unemployment Insurance or UI is a program that provides its claimants temporary income if they have lost their jobs due to layoffs or plant closures. The UI program is funded by the unemployment taxes paid by employers and is not deducted from the claimant’s paychecks.

MiWAM for Claimants – Guide

The Michigan Unemployment Insurance agency falls under the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity is not a US department but a department under the state of Michigan. The MiWAM services include providing services for the unemployed, ensuring workplace safety, and providing services for job seekers and employers.

UIA’s main function is to help the residents of the state of Michigan through their time of unemployment. Their main function is to process claims and facilitate the payment of Unemployment benefits.

The fastest and easiest method to file a claim or re-open a MiWAM new claim is by visiting http://www.michigan.gov/uia and creating or logging in to an existing account on the Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM) a unique claim id will be created.

How to file a MiWAM claim?

To file a MiWAM claim, one must create a MiWAM account. Information required to create an account includes-

• Social Security Number
• Driver License or State ID number
• Mailing address to which you want the claim sent
• County in which you live
• Telephone number and e-mail address
• Fill in the preferences of the mode of payment
• Alien Registration Number must be provided by a non-citizen or national of the United States.
• Name of the recent employer, federal Employer Identification Number, and Employer Account Number
• Date of employment and annual income without deductions

Michigan Unemployment Insurance claimant Certification Process

Once you have filled in the information in the required fields, the claimant must certify their eligibility every two weeks to receive payments. The certification process can be conducted online, or it can be conducted on the phone. And although online certification services are available 24/7, the phone service is only available from Monday to Saturday between 8 am and 7 pm.

For bi-weekly online certification, claimants can access their MiWAM accounts and fill in the necessary information, such as answering questions for each week separately, entering job contacts for jobs they have applied to, and submitting the same for review.

Michigan Unemployed Work Search

While during the COVID-19 pandemic, this portion was not required. Although in normal circumstances, a claimant must prove that they are actively searching for jobs; otherwise, their benefits will not be paid to them until they have reported their job search activities.

The Michigan gov UIA website provides links to pdfs, which are useful regarding the information required for documenting active job searches. Some examples of valid work search activities are-

• Attending job search seminars or workshops which can help with improving skills required for getting a job.
• Using resources available at Michigan Works offices to look for local job postings by local employers.
• Participate in a Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment.
• Register for work with a private recruiter or employment agency
• Participate in virtual or remote job shadowing.

Choosing payment method

There are two ways to receive benefits. These are-

1. Debit card
2. Direct Deposit to your bank account.

PUA – Pandemic Unemployment Assistance

PUA, or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, is a temporary federal program that was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that became a law on March 27, 2020.

The program provides Unemployment benefits up to 50 weeks to individuals who are ineligible for regular UI programs.

PUA Benefits- The minimum weekly benefit that can be claimed is $160, and the maximum is $362.
Individuals eligible for PUA are- self-employed individuals, independent contractors, people with limited work history, individuals experiencing a reduction in hours due to COVID-19 restrictions, etc. The program has been extended till September 4.

Eligibility for MiWAM Claimant

You must be unemployed, able, and actively seeking a full-time job to be eligible for unemployment. The UIA will determine if you are eligible to receive Unemployment benefits based on –

• Calculating wages earned in the standard base period.
• If a claimant’s wages don’t qualify for the standard base period, their wags are calculated based on an alternate base period.

Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM)

The Michigan Web Account Manager is the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) or Ui’s portal for filing and managing their UI account. With the help of MiWAM, accessing the benefits given to the unemployed by UI has become easier, faster, and simpler.

With the MiWAM, the claimant can not only make their unemployment claim to receive employment benefits, but they can also check their payment history, claim balance, file a protest or appeal, ask questions, submit monthly work information, update their personal information and choose or change their payment methods.

You can access MiWAM’s toolkit on their website, which provides answers to pertinent questions raised while using this facility. The MiWAM toolkit explains important information by breaking down topics into frequently asked questions. The list of topics included in the MiWAM toolkit are-

• MLogin for citizens registration
• Filing a new claim
• Existing claims in MiWAM
• Reporting Fraud
• Filing a reopen/additional claim in MiWAM
• Certification in MiWAM
• Claims
• Other Services
• Claimant Services
• Payments

Certification Process

Once you have filled in the information in the required fields, the MiWAM Login for Claimants must certify their eligibility every two weeks to receive payments. The certification process can be conducted online, or it can be conducted on the phone. And although online certification services are available 24/7, the phone service is only available from Monday to Saturday between 8 am and 7 pm.

For bi-weekly online certification, claimants can access their MiWAM accounts and fill in the necessary information, such as answering questions for each week separately, entering job contacts for jobs they have applied to, and submitting the same for review.

MiWAM For Claimants – Frequently asked questions