Unemployment Benefits: for employees

Benefits are extended to:

• Workers who have an unanticipated family care responsibility, including those who have childcare responsibilities due to school closures, or those who are forced to care for loved one who become ill.
• Workers who are sick, quarantined, or immunocompromised and who do not have access to paid family and medical leave or are laid off.
• First responders in the public health community who become ill or are quarantined due to exposure to COVID-19.

The State of Michigan has temporarily waived the register for work requirement. If you need assistance filing your unemployment claim, you can call your local Michigan Works! office at:

Bay Service Center:  989-667-0500

Gratiot Service Center:  989-466-4832

Isabella Service Center:  989-772-5304

Midland Service Center:  989-631-3073

Saginaw Service Center:  989-752-3145

• We encourage all claimants to either register by phone at 866-500-0017 or online. Click here to apply.
• We encourage all claimants to utilize the chat feature online through MiWAM to speak with a live agent at Michigan.gov\uia

Unemployment Benefits: for employers

The Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) will be hosting several hour-long informational webinars for Michigan employers regarding unemployment insurance and the recent Executive Orders 2020-09 and 2020-10 signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. All webinars will be conducted using Microsoft Skype for Business. To join the webinar, please click on the “Join Skype Meeting” link for the appropriate date and time.

Below are the webinar dates, times and login information as follows:

Monday, March 23, 10 – 11 a.m.

Join Skype Meeting
Dial-in Number: (248) 509-0316
Conference ID: 501784127

Monday, March 23, 2 – 3 p.m.

Join Skype Meeting
Dial-in Number: (248) 509-0316
Conference ID: 473769071

Tuesday, March 24, 10 – 11 a.m.

Join Skype Meeting
Dial-in Number: (248) 509-0316
Conference ID: 616070893

Tuesday, March 24, 2 – 3 p.m.

Join Skype Meeting
Dial-in Number: (248) 509-0316
Conference ID: 794829308

Work Share Program: for employers

• Permits employers to maintain operations during decline in regular business rather than laying off workers.
• Eligible employees work reduced hours in the work week and receive a portion of weekly unemployment benefits.
• Participation in Work Share enables employers to retain trained employees and avoid the expense of recruiting, hiring and training new employees.

Click here to learn more

Click here for the most recent update from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity

Business and Consumer Loan Relief

• Any business experiencing financial challenges are encouraged during this difficult time to contact their lenders. Many financial institutions are developing programs to provide assistance to both consumer and business customers.

Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Assistance

• The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million that can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing.

Click here to APPLY for Small Business Relief Grants & Loans  

Small Business Tax Relief

• The State of Michigan will be waiving penalty and interest on sales, use and withholding taxes for 30 days in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.