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On April 30, Governor Engler signed Michigan House Bill 5763 into law. The bill that was introduced by Representative Randy Richardville (see last issue of Working Together) is a compromise plan to increase weekly unemployment benefits. The bill, approved on a 34-3 Senate vote, provides $362 per week maximum (up from $300) benefits with no waiting week. The bill also includes some changes in the employer tax structure. The benefit increase does not affect every unemployment claim. The increase applies to about 60% of all claims - basically, those receiving the current maximum of $300 per week. A person’s weekly unemployment benefit amount is calculated by multiplying the largest amount of wages received in any one of the base period quarters by 4.1%. For each dependent, $6 is added to the individual’s weekly benefit. Under the recent changes the weekly benefit amount will be capped at $362. For new claims filed after the legislation’s effective date, the formula for determining how many weeks of benefits a jobless worker will receive has changed. The multiplier will increase from 40% of base period wages to 43%. The maximum number of weeks an individual can receive, however, remains capped at 26, and the minimum remains at 14. The formula for determining benefit duration will be: multiply the worker’s total base period wages by 43% and divide the answer by the weekly benefit amount. Information for this article came from the April 2002 issue of Fact Sheet, published by the State of Michigan Department of Consumer & Industry Services. |