A non-monetary issue on your Michigan unemployment claim means the Unemployment Insurance Agency has opened a question about why you lost your job or whether you currently meet the rules to collect benefits. Payments are held while the issue is pending. To protect your money, respond to the fact-finding questionnaire with specifics, keep certifying every two weeks, and watch for the Notice of Determination that tells you whether you’re eligible.
What the Issue Is Actually About
Michigan’s Employment Security Act divides non-monetary issues into two kinds. Separation issues look backward at how your last job ended. Eligibility issues look at your current status week to week.
On the separation side, the most common trigger is a voluntary quit. Under Section 29 of the Act, you’re disqualified if you left work voluntarily without good cause attributable to your employer, and the law presumes you left voluntarily unless you prove otherwise. Good cause means the employer did something that would make a reasonable person walk away; personal reasons generally don’t count unless they trace back to something the employer caused.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-29
Quits for medical reasons carry extra requirements. Before leaving, you must have gotten a statement from a medical professional that continuing in the job would harm your health, asked the employer for alternative work, and asked to be placed on a leave of absence. Skipping any of those steps can disqualify you even when the condition is real.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-29
Misconduct is the other main separation issue. The agency looks at whether your actions showed a willful disregard for the employer’s interests. A single honest mistake usually isn’t enough. The statute does list specific discharges that trigger disqualification on their own: assault and battery on the job, theft from your employer, willful destruction of company property, and intoxication at work. Drug-related discharges have their own provision covering possession on company premises, refusing a non-discriminatory drug test, or testing positive, with a right to a second test on the same sample if no confirmatory test was previously run.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-29
Eligibility issues are different. Even after a clean separation, Section 28 requires you every week to register for work, actively seek employment, and remain able and available for full-time work in a job you’re qualified for. If the agency identifies you as likely to exhaust regular benefits, you may be directed into reemployment services.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-28 Refusing a suitable job offer can open an issue. So can identity verification, where the agency asks you to upload a government-issued ID through MiWAM before releasing payment.
Keep Certifying Every Two Weeks
This is the mistake that costs people the most money. When MiWAM shows “pending adjudication” or an open non-monetary issue, it’s tempting to stop certifying because nothing is being paid. Don’t. The agency instructs claimants to continue certifying every two weeks while an issue is under review.3Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Account Status
If the issue is later resolved in your favor, you receive back pay for every week you certified. Weeks you skipped are gone, and you can’t reclaim them. The same rule applies while a protest or appeal is pending. Keep certifying until you return to full-time work or until every appeal has run.
Respond to the Fact-Finding Questionnaire
When a non-monetary issue opens, the agency sends a fact-finding questionnaire asking for your side. For a separation issue, expect questions about the final incident or your reason for leaving. For an eligibility issue, expect questions about job search activity, availability, or whatever specific requirement is in play. Your former employer gets a parallel request.
The questionnaire is usually in your MiWAM account under the Determination Status tab. Give a clear narrative with specific dates, names of supervisors involved, and the sequence of events. Vague answers hurt you, because the examiner compares your account against the employer’s and resolves inconsistencies against whichever story doesn’t hold up.
Attach documents. If you quit for medical reasons, include a signed letter from your doctor confirming the job was harmful to your health and the dates they advised you to stop working. If you were fired and dispute the employer’s version, send written warnings or the absence of them, relevant emails, witness names, and the termination letter. Upload everything as PDFs through MiWAM so the examiner has it in one place.
What Happens Next
After both sides respond, an examiner reviews the evidence against the statutory standards and may contact either party for follow-up. Processing times vary; high claim volumes stretch the wait. During this period MiWAM shows the claim as pending adjudication.
The decision arrives as a Notice of Determination. It tells you whether you’re eligible or disqualified and cites the specific section of the Employment Security Act the examiner relied on. Read the legal reasoning closely. It frames the ground for any protest.
If the Decision Goes Against You
You have 30 days from the date the Notice of Determination was mailed or personally served to file a protest. The deadline is statutory and firm.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-32a You can file through MiWAM using the “Protest a Determination” link, or submit a written protest by mail or fax. Explain why you disagree and attach new evidence that supports your position.5Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Protests and Appeals
A different staff member then performs a redetermination, which is a fresh review that can affirm, modify, or reverse the first decision. The agency may also transfer the matter straight to an Administrative Law Judge rather than issue its own redetermination.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-32a
Missing the 30-day window isn’t always fatal. The agency can reconsider for good cause, such as a notice sent to the wrong address or an administrative error. A reconsideration request must be filed within one year of the original determination’s mailing date, or within three years if the original determination involved a finding of fraud.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-32a
Appeal to an Administrative Law Judge
If the redetermination still goes against you, you have 30 days from its mailing date to appeal for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. That appeal moves your case out of the UIA and into the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-33
MOAHR schedules a telephone hearing and sends a Notice of Hearing with the date, time, and call-in details. The ALJ is not a UIA employee and had no role in the earlier decisions. Both sides present testimony and evidence. Because MOAHR is separate from the UIA, send your supporting documents directly to the office on the hearing notice, not through MiWAM.5Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Protests and Appeals
The ALJ can affirm, modify, reverse, or set aside the earlier decision. Missing the hearing without good reason can get your appeal dismissed. After the decision, either party can request a rehearing within 30 days of its mailing date, and the ALJ can reopen for good cause up to one year later.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-33
If You Were Disqualified
A disqualification doesn’t necessarily lock you out forever. For a voluntary quit without good cause, you’re disqualified for the week you quit and every week after until you earn at least 12 times your weekly benefit rate in new wages. For a $362 weekly benefit rate, that’s roughly $4,344 at a new job before benefits can resume. Disqualifications for misconduct, drug test failures, theft, assault, and willful property destruction carry their own requalification requirements under Section 29.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-29
If the Decision Creates an Overpayment
If the determination finds you were ineligible for weeks you were already paid, the agency issues an overpayment notice. Interest runs at 1% per month, accruing daily until the balance is paid.7Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. PUA Overpayment and Restitution
Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. The agency can garnish wages, intercept state and federal tax refunds through the Treasury Offset Program, seize lottery winnings over $1,000, and deny future unemployment benefits until the balance is cleared. Fraud-related overpayments can be referred for prosecution.7Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. PUA Overpayment and Restitution
If you can’t afford to repay, request a hardship waiver through MiWAM under the Claimant Services tab. One timing detail matters: don’t request a waiver at the same time you protest the overpayment itself. The agency won’t consider a waiver until the underlying restitution decision is final. If a waiver is denied, you can reapply every six months.7Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. PUA Overpayment and Restitution
A Word on Accuracy
There is a hard line between losing a non-monetary issue because the facts didn’t break your way and losing one because you lied. Knowingly false statements to obtain benefits carry penalties that scale with the amount involved, from damages of up to twice the overpayment at the low end to criminal prosecution with multi-year prison exposure at the high end.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 421-54c Even unintentional mistakes can look like fraud when the discrepancy is large. When you’re not sure of a date or figure, say so rather than guess, and give more detail rather than less on the questionnaire that opened the issue in the first place.