LANSING, MI (AP)— A new law gives Michigan’s unemployment agency flexibility to stop seeking repayment of benefits from part-time workers who began qualifying when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
The bill, signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer Monday, resolves a conflict between state law and a federal program that provided unemployment aid to people who weren't otherwise eligible, including part-time employees. It retroactively specifies that claimants seeking the benefits could certify they were able and available for part-time work.
The sponsor says it clears up confusion for thousands of part-time workers who began getting benefits only to face the prospect of having to repay them.