To file for underemployment in Michigan online, log into the Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM) with a MiLogin account, start a new claim, and enter your employer history for the past 18 months along with your current gross weekly earnings. The state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency pays partial benefits to workers who are still employed but earning less than 1.6 times their weekly benefit amount, with the maximum weekly rate set at $530 for claims filed in 2026.1State of Michigan. Unemployment Weekly Benefit Rate Increases January 1, 2026 After the claim is approved, you keep the money coming by certifying your earnings and work search every two weeks.
Confirm You Qualify Before You File
Two eligibility tests matter for a partial claim. The first is whether you earned enough in the past to open a claim at all. Michigan looks at your “base period,” the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file. For 2026, you need at least $5,328 in wages during your highest-earning quarter, wages in at least two quarters, and total base period wages of at least 1.5 times your highest quarter, or a minimum of $7,992. An alternate formula lets you qualify with total base period wages of at least $26,677.60.2State of Michigan. Eligibility Requirements
The second test applies week by week. You only receive a partial payment in weeks where your gross earnings stay below 1.6 times your weekly benefit amount.3State of Michigan. Underemployment Benefits Calculation If your weekly benefit amount is $300, you’d need to earn less than $480 that week to collect anything. Hit or exceed that number and you get nothing for that week, but the claim stays open for future weeks when hours drop again.
You must also stay available for full-time work and complete at least one documented work search activity each week. If your employer has given you a specific return-to-work date within 45 days, the employer can request a waiver of the work search requirement. Layoffs of 15 days or less can qualify for a waiver you request yourself when you file.4State of Michigan. Completing Your Work Search
What to Gather Before You Log In
Missing information is the fastest way to stall a claim. Have all of the following ready:
- Your Social Security Number and a valid Michigan driver’s license or state ID.
- Business name, mailing address, and Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) for every employer you’ve had in the past 18 months. Your most recent W-2 or pay stub usually shows the FEIN.5Labor and Economic Opportunity. Fact Sheet 160 – Claiming Unemployment Benefits in Michigan
- Your gross wages from each employer broken down by calendar quarter.
- Your current week’s gross wages, before any deductions for taxes, insurance, or retirement. Base this on the days you actually worked, not the day you got paid.
- Bank account and routing numbers if you want direct deposit. Otherwise Michigan issues a debit card.
One detail catches partial claimants specifically. When the application asks for your reason for separation, select the option that says you are still employed with reduced hours. Choosing a full separation by mistake sends your claim into a different review track and can push payment back by weeks.
Filing the Claim in MiWAM
You need a MiLogin account to reach MiWAM. MiLogin is the same single sign-on Michigan uses for the Secretary of State portal and MiBridges, so check for an existing account before creating a new one. Duplicate accounts create their own delays.6State of Michigan. Claimant Roadmap
Once inside MiWAM, choose “File a New Claim” from the dashboard. The system moves through a sequence of screens covering your employer information, wage data, and reason for filing. At the end, an electronic signature page carries the same legal weight as a signed paper form. Submitting the claim produces a confirmation number. Save or print that screen right away. It’s your proof that the application went through and matters if a dispute ever comes up about your filing date.
MiWAM accepts filings 24 hours a day.6State of Michigan. Claimant Roadmap For technical help, the agency’s customer service line at 1-866-500-0017 operates Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
What Happens After You Submit
Shortly after the claim is processed, Form UIA 1575C, the Monetary Determination, lands in your MiWAM account. It shows your weekly benefit amount, total benefit entitlement, and the wage records the agency pulled from past employers.7Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. How to Certify for Benefits
Read it carefully. If an employer is missing, the wages look wrong, or the benefit amount seems too low, you have 30 days from the mail date on the determination to file a protest. Late protests are much harder to get accepted.8State of Michigan. Protests and Appeals Check MiWAM often during this window; the agency may also send requests for identity verification or earnings documentation that have their own deadlines.
Certifying Every Two Weeks
The initial filing only opens the claim. Every two weeks, you have to certify that you’re still eligible by reporting your work hours, gross earnings, and job search activity. Certify online through MiWAM at any hour, or call MARVIN (Michigan Automated Response Voice Interactive Network) at 1-866-638-3993, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.7Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. How to Certify for Benefits
Miss the certification window and payments suspend immediately. There is no grace period. The most common mistake for partial claimants is reporting net pay instead of gross pay. Always use gross wages, and report them for the week you did the work, not the week you were paid.
How Your Partial Payment Is Calculated
Michigan uses a two-step formula. First, your weekly benefit amount drops by 40 cents for every dollar of gross wages you earned that week. Second, the agency checks that your benefits plus your earnings don’t exceed 1.6 times your weekly benefit amount. If the total goes over, the benefit is trimmed further until it fits under the ceiling.3State of Michigan. Underemployment Benefits Calculation
A worked example from the agency: with a weekly benefit amount of $120 and $140 in gross wages that week, 40% of $140 is $56, leaving a tentative benefit of $64. Adding the $140 in wages back gives $204, which exceeds the $192 ceiling by $12. The final payment is $52.3State of Michigan. Underemployment Benefits Calculation
Any week you receive a partial payment, even a small one, counts as a full week against your total entitlement. Michigan currently allows up to 26 weeks on a standard claim.9State of Michigan. Increased Unemployment Benefits and Added Weeks Go Into Effect April 2
Other Income You Have to Report
Wages aren’t the only thing that reduces a partial payment. Michigan defines “remuneration” to include regular wages, vacation pay, holiday pay, bonus pay, and severance pay.10State of Michigan. General Questions Before Filing Any of these received during a certification week factor into your earnings calculation.
Pension and retirement distributions, including 401(k) withdrawals, trigger a separate agency review. If a base period employer funded the plan and the pro rata weekly pension equals or exceeds your weekly benefit rate, you may be ineligible for benefits entirely.11Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 421.27 Report anything unusual when you first file or as soon as you learn about it. Waiting until the agency finds it turns a correctable reporting issue into a possible fraud finding.
Overpayments and Fraud
Accurate reporting keeps you out of the agency’s enforcement track. When the agency finds an intentional misrepresentation, it can require repayment of the overpaid benefits plus damages of up to three times the overpayment. A first knowing false statement carries damages equal to the amount obtained; repeat violations rise to 1.5 times. Identity theft cases face damages of four times the fraudulently obtained amount.12Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 421.54 Fraud under $25,000 can bring up to one year of imprisonment; above $25,000 the case becomes a felony.
Not every overpayment counts as fraud. If the agency overpays you through no fault of your own, such as an employer reporting wages late, you may be able to request a waiver of repayment under federal guidelines that allow waivers when the claimant wasn’t at fault and repayment would defeat the purpose of unemployment insurance.13Employment and Training Administration. Unemployment Insurance Overpayment Waivers
Unemployment benefits are also taxable at the federal level. Michigan will send you Form 1099-G early the following year, and you can submit IRS Form W-4V to have federal tax withheld from your payments if you’d rather not owe at filing time.14Internal Revenue Service. Unemployment Compensation