Category: Employment
Michigan Unemployment Benefits Explained
The State of Michigan is facing tough times. With rising unemployment and the often complex unemployment benefits system, mistakes are being made and workers are wrongfully being denied their unemployment benefit payments. With new developments in unemployment laws and the federal stimulus package, unemployment benefits in Michigan are worth more than ever. For some beneficiaries, benefits can reach 72 weeks and nearly $30,000.
If an initial claim for unemployment benefits is denied, it is important for an unemployed worker to understand why they were denied, and what they can do to request a re-determination or appeal to protect their rights and get a proper and just determination. This article addresses the basic framework and is intended to help the Michigan unemployment applicant understand the process. In difficult situations, experienced legal representation may be essential.
The Unemployment Application Process in Michigan
During their first week of unemployment, unemployed workers are asked to visit the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agencys website at: http://www.michigan.gov/uia, the website is available to file new unemployment claims Monday Saturday from 7am to 7pm. There is also a telephone option: 1-866-500-0017. Unless instructed otherwise by Unemployment Agency staff, applicants must register within two to three business days at their local Michigan Works! Agency to upload a resume to the Michigan Talent Bank.
First time applicants will receive in the mail the following items:
–A determination showing the amount of weekly benefits and the number of weeks they may receive based on the wages earned.
–A booklet with detailed information about their rights and responsibilities for unemployment benefits.
–If there is an eligibility issue with their claim, they will receive a separate notice.
The unemployment claim process starts with an initial determination by the Unemployment Agency as to whether the applicant is eligible. Provided the applicant was fully employed in an eligible job, the agencys determination is based on two questions: whether the separation from employment was voluntary and, if not, whether the employment termination was based on misconduct. The initial determination is a first look and is not often without mistakes.
Unfortunately, mistakes in the initial unemployment determination are common. The most common mistakes involve inappropriate assumptions about a resignation or overreaching claims of misconduct in employer challenges. Often, employers challenge the benefits based on general performance issues or tardiness, issues not considered to be misconduct under the unemployment law. Misconduct under the employment laws is meant to be a limited category related to outright theft, misrepresentation or workplace drunkenness, not generalized performance issues.
When it comes to voluntary termination of employment, mistakes are often based on assumptions when employees resign just to protect their record, when in fact, many employees resign only involuntarily and only because they have been told their job is ending. Such resignations are not voluntary under the Michigan unemployment laws and should not be used to deny benefits.
Basic Requirements for Michigan Unemployment Benefits
The Michigan unemployment agency looks at the unemployed workers earnings in the first four out of the past five completed calendar quarters to determine if they are eligible for benefit payments. If they do not qualify under the standard base period they will then be reexamined using the four most recent quarters called the alternate base period. There is one last section to determine qualifications that the unemployed worker will have to certify with the State of Michigan. According to the UIA website, To be eligible for unemployment benefits, you must be unemployed and able to, available for, and actively seeking suitable full-time work. Some may worry that if they left their previous employer by turning in a resignation that they would be exempt from unemployment benefits. Although initial unemployment determinations may result in a denial of benefits, the fact of a resignation should not result in a denial, if it is involuntary.
The Process for Unemployment Beneficiaries Explained
Once qualified with an approved claim, the unemployed worker must continually certify their unemployed status with the State of Michigan every other week. The unemployed worker is expected to report to the UIA through the use of the Internet or telephone using Michigans Automated Response Voice Interactive Network, (MARVIN). A scheduled MARVIN appointment is based on the last two digits of their Social Security number. To access MARVIN via the Internet, unemployment beneficiaries can visit http://www.michigan.gov/uia and select the UIA Online Services for Unemployed Workers link. A free UIA online account can be created. MARVIN can also be reached at 1-866-638-3993, to find out scheduled times, beneficiaries can visit http://www.michigan.gov/uia.
How Much Will Michigan Unemployment Beneficiaries Receive and How?
Once approved and certified, it is important to know how the UIA determines the amount of unemployment benefit payment and how to receive it. During the unemployment application process, the UIA will ask the unemployed workers to select a choice of payment through either a state issued debit card or direct deposit into their personal bank account. To determine the specific amount of benefit payments, the UIA staff multiplies the highest amount of wages paid in any base period quarter by 4.1%. For each dependant claimed, the UIA adds $6 per dependant up to five. Currently, the weekly benefit amount is capped at a maximum of $362.
To determine how many weeks of benefits are available to an unemployed worker, the UIA multiplies total base period wages by 43% and then divides that answer by a weekly benefit amount. The initial benefit cannot be less than 14 weeks or more than 26 weeks. However, many emergency changes to the process have resulted in a series of extensions for unemployment beneficiaries. For some, benefits may extend up to 72 weeks. The new federal stimulus package may also include subsidy for extended COBRA benefits for some beneficiaries.
Special Emergency Extensions Available to Michigans Unemployed Workers
In recent developments, the Federal Government has provided an extension of benefits under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC), which includes a 20 week extension upon the initial state benefit period. The second part of the EUC is an additional 13 week extension upon that. In addition, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm signed an extension benefit for an additional 13 weeks as of February 13th, 2009. Therefore, the total of available weeks of unemployment benefits that unemployed workers may receive would equal 72 weeks. The unemployment agency is responsible for notifying those eligible for the extensions when they are approaching the end of their initial claim.
What to Do If Michigan Unemployment Benefits are Denied or Challenged
The Michigan unemployment process is complex and has many layers. The agencys first decision is called a determination. After that the employer or the employee has 30 days to challenge the determination and request a redetermination. If either side is not satisfied, they are given an additional amount of time to request an appeal, to be heard by an administrative law judge at the unemployment agency.
For both sides, the appeal will be the first chance to present evidence and take testimony. After the appeal, challenges may go on to a board of review and then to Michigans court system. The biggest mistake people make is to give up on the process too early or to allow deadlines to pass. Employees often lose their rights sometimes worth over $20,000 simply by missing the deadlines. Sometimes, employers succeed by making continuous challenges and waiting for the employee to give up.
Other times employees may lose because they did not prepare for the appeal, or they are not adequately represented when they get there. When it comes to an appeal, many employees lose because they are not prepared to give testimony at the hearing or they are not represented. Simple steps can be taken to protect unemployment appeal rights. Unemployment advocates are available free of charge through the agency and some private employment attorneys are willing represent individuals in the unemployment process for a flat fee. Whatever they do, beneficiaries should never let their unemployment agency deadlines lapse with out seeking qualified legal advice.
In this article I’m going to share with you how to get a car loan, even if you have a low credit score. The information in this article might be the only information you will need to learn, so you will know how to get the bank to say yes to your car loan. So, let’s get started and get you on your way to driving that car you need and want.
Auto lenders look at more than just your credit score when considering making you a loan. They look at your entire financial picture, including income, the debt you owe, monthly payments and credit history before making the decision to approve or decline a loan. Before you go out and apply for a loan, make sure that your employment history, credit, income and address information is acceptable, based on what the lender is looking for.
If you have sufficient employment history and income, a lender may approve your loan even with a low score.
Here’s What Lenders Are Looking For:
Employment and Address History: Have at least two years of employment history and address history at the same job. The longer you have been at your job and the more money you make, the better chance you have of getting the approval on your auto loan. However, if you have had several jobs and moved from one residence to another and have low income, it’s going to be tough getting approved for a loan. You should also have enough income every month, to cover all your monthly debt. If your debt is high and close to or over your income level, a bank will decline the loan.
Vehicle Value: The lender calculates the vehicle’s value by the year, make, model, options and miles on the car you are looking at purchasing. Based on your credit history and score, the lender will approve a percentage of that value as the loan amount. If you have poor credit you will need to come up with a larger down payment. You may not be able to get the entire amount of the loan that you applied for, because of a low credit score.
What You Can Do:
Pull your credit history. Know what your score is before you apply for a loan.
Save some money for the down payment. If you have things around your home that you aren’t using, consider selling them and use the extra cash for the down payment. The more money you put down, the better chance you have of getting the loan.
Choose a car based on what you can afford, not on the latest style. When you have bad credit you can’t be picky on the finance terms or the car. Dealers who offer programs for people with poor credit have cars that will fit the program for the lenders approval.
Don’t worry about having to pay a higher interest rate right now. Provided you make your payments on time, you can usually refinance for a better interest rate and terms within 12 to 24 months. Remember you are rebuilding your credit and it takes time to get it back up in the higher scores.
The biggest mystery in some minds is how to secure the funding necessary to buy a home, despite having a low credit rating. The sheer size of the loan needed to complete the purchase is staggering. And yet, securing mortgage loans with bad credit ratings is viable and common.
But applicants that believe securing mortgage approval under these circumstances is impossible miss the point. Lenders actually want to lend money, it is just the protective policies they apply that can get in the way. Once the criteria is met and the lender feels assured, approval is all but definite.
The question is how to convince the lenders to the degree that bad credit scores are overlooked and the mortgage loan is granted. Well, there are a few simple measures to take that will do the job, but here are three of the most effective.
Offer a Big Down Payment
It would be foolish to overlook the significance of down payments. Indeed, it can be a major advantage when applying for mortgage loans with bad credit. This is for two reasons: firstly, it affects the size of the mortgage required; and secondly, it reflects the character of the applicant.
A down payment represents a share of the purchase price that is bought out immediately. So, a 5% down payment on a $200,000 property translates to paying $10,000 off the price. This means that a mortgage of $190,000 is required. But a big down payment, of say 20%, means that the sum borrowed falls to $160,000.
Securing mortgage approval is easier as the loan amount falls, but the impression saving up a large down payment has also impresses the lenders. Saving $40,000 is no mean feat in these difficult times, requiring real financial discipline. This is the kind of discipline that lenders want to see in the people they approve mortgage loans to.
Address the Low Credit Score
Another move that impresses the lenders is taking measures to improve the credit score that the applicant has. When seeking mortgage loans with bad credit, the influence that the credit score has can be the difference between monthly repayments that are affordable and too expensive.
There are several ways to improve a credit score. A popular way is to take out a series of small payday loans, perhaps of $1,000, and then repay them in full when the next paycheck arrives. However, each time the loan is repaid in full, the credit score is adjusted accordingly. As the score gets higher, securing mortgage approval gets a little easier.
Alternatively, a larger loan could be taken out to consolidate all of the existing debt, replacing numerous loans with one central debt that is easier to manage. Then, when applying for the mortgage loan, the higher score means lower interest rates.
Prove Secure Employment Status
Finally, perhaps the most basic step to take is to prove that your employment status is secure. This can be difficult given the uncertainty of the economy, but those employed long term are in a stronger position to convince lenders that repayments will be made. So, getting a mortgage loan with bad credit is easier.
Providing all the necessary documentation is essential. A photocopy of a paycheck will confirm the monthly income while a copy of an employment contract can confirm the job is more than just a short-term position. Securing mortgage approval can rest on these few aspects of the application.
However, keep in mind the debt-to-income ratio too, with a maximum 40% of the excess income reserved for debt repayments. This means that even with all the boxes ticked, the share of available income is not enough. Therefore, the mortgage loan has to be rejected.
Employing highly intelligent and highly qualified employees in a range of sophisticated commercial businesses is a risky business for employers.
To acquire competitive business advantage in an increasingly globalized and networked world of pharmaceuticals, genetics, telecommunications, power supply and information technology requires the employment of highly qualified, well educated, experienced and clever employees.
Potential employers and employees are both well advised to seek legal assistance when drafting or accepting terms of employment. Due to the seniority of these employees, their employment contracts are less likely to be workplace agreements but more likely to be private , one-off, contracts of employment.
Often, employees in the pharmaceuticals, genetics, telecommunications, power supply and information technology industries will have access to secret and confidential information which is both price and market-sensitive. This information might be chemical formulae, scientific and technological data, chemical, electrical or manufacturing trade processes, hardware or software engineering designs, or a range of other sophisticated technological and scientific information. The potential employee will need access to this information to perform his or her anticipated role. When the employment relationship ends, however, the employer is faced with a double problem. First, the employee is leaving. Whether the departure is voluntary or involuntary, it will be an inconvenience and a disruption to the employer. Secondly, and more importantly long term, the departing employee will take with him or her, knowledge of the secret and confidential information which may be the very basis of the employer’s competitive advantage in a particular industry or market.
To minimise this long term disruption, employers often include restraint of trade clauses in employment contracts when employing people in these sensitive areas. Commonly, the restraint of trade will prevent the former employee from seeking employment with any competitor of the former employer in the particular market for a period of time.
In current times, where there is a shortage of trained staff, particularly in scientific and technological areas, the reason why an employee departs is generally because he or she has received a better offer from a competitor.
In deciding whether or not to enforce the restraint of trade clause against a departing employee, Victorian courts have to balance a number of competing factors.
First, neither Australian nor Victorian general law will restrain a former employee from seeking employment with a competitor. Any such restraint must be found in an enforceable clause in the contract of employment with the former employer. Employers, therefore, should always ensure that staff are employed pursuant to written contracts of employment which contain enforceable restraints of trade.
Secondly, Victorian courts will not allow employers to prevent former employees from conducting a living by practising the skills which may have taken many years to acquire through university courses or practical experience. However, this is only a general rule or starting point.
Thirdly, Victorian courts will not allow former employees to obtain an unfair springboard into a new career by abusing the trust of the former employer. Examples are where employees spend an entire weekend photocopying price lists, formulae, client contact details and other confidential information and then resign the following Monday morning to set up a competitive business the following Tuesday morning.
Essentially, Victorian courts perform a balancing act between the competing interests of the employee to be able to continue to gain a living on the one hand and the employer’s interests of being able to reasonably prevent the disclosure of confidential and secret trade-sensitive information to competitors when the employment relationship ceases.
The sorts of factors courts have taken into account are as follows. First, Victorian courts will look to see whether the restraint of trade is reasonable or is too restrictive. Any restraint which tries to prevent an employee from working not only in the particular business of the former employer but any other associated or ancillary business is likely to be struck down. Likewise, a restraint which seeks to prevent an employee from working for an excessively lengthy period (generally more than 12 months) is also highly likely to be struck down and declared unenforceable. To overcome these problems, lawyers draft restraint of trade clauses to have a “waterfall” effect. The clause contains a number of alternatives, for example, starting from a very wide restraint and then proceeding to an increasingly narrow restraint in terms of future employment activities or in terms of length of time. Each one of the alternatives is severable from the contract if declared unenforceable by a court. Accordingly, a court might reject a restraint which provided for former employee X not to be employed in any pharmaceutical industry within South East Asia including Australia. The court, on the other hand, may be prepared to enforce a restraint which prevented employee X from being employed in the field of molecular genetic artificial-blood technology in either Melbourne or in Sydney for a period of one year. Such a restraint is far more precise and reasonably protects the former employer’s confidential information whilst allowing the employee to seek employment in the general field of molecular genetics.
A court must also be satisfied that an employer’s fears are genuine. For instance, is the information really secret and confidential? If the information is only knowledge which an employee would obtain through the repetitive working of his or her ordinary job, courts are less likely to regard this as secret or confidential information. Other sorts of information which are publicly available (even such as client contact details and price lists) may also not qualify. If there is no secret or confidential information, then there can be no restraint of trade.
Courts will also look to see whether the employee was specifically compensated for the restraint when first employed. If an employee received a specific additional sum as a hiring incentive for a longer than normal restraint of trade, courts are more likely to be persuaded that the restraint, when ultimately applied, is reasonable. The employee has accepted the restraint when first employed and has received a specific benefit for it.
Another factor which courts will examine is the seniority of the former employee. The more senior, the more likely it may be that the now departed employee may be capable of encouraging other staff to follow him or her and more capable of influencing former clients to switch allegiance. Alternatively, if the former employee was not employed in a managerial position and was only employed at either a junior or specific technical level, courts may be less worried about wholesale client or staff defections which would need to be prevented by the restraint of trade clause.
Until recently, courts seemed reluctant to enforce restraints of trade for more than 3-6 months. However, recent New South Wales Supreme Court authorities seem to be swinging the pendulum back in favour of employers where the balancing exercise outlined above suggests that the restraint of trade does need to be enforced to reasonably protect the former employer’s market and confidential information interests. For instance, Brereton, J., in John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v. Bert & Ors [2006] N.S.W.S.C. 995 upheld a restraint of trade for 12 months in relation to a former employee who had been employed at a senior level. The same judge, in Cactus Imaging Pty Ltd v. Peters [2006] N.S.W.S.C. 17 (18 July 2006) also enforced a restraint of trade for 12 months in a situation where the former employee operated in a restrictive market or oligopoly.
This is a complex area of law. Contracts of employment generally and restraints of trade particularly need to be carefully drafted to have their intended legal effect.
Employers and employees need to be carefully advised on the range of tactics available in post employment scenarios.
People, in general, like to be open to opportunities which gives them different options, especially in the field of employment. Nowadays, a number of companies in India have become existent, which lets people have these kinds of opportunities. Companies and agencies like RRB, NIC, NMDC, etc can be highly alluring for the candidates, especially those who have passed out recently because of their stature in Indian society.
RRB or Railway Recruitment Board is present in 19 different railway zones of the country, which presents a large number of employment opportunities. It is known to everyone that the Indian Railways is one of the largest recruiters in the world and the majority of the recruitment in the railways, is done through the different railway recruitment boards in the country. Therefore RRB recruitment 2013 is an opportunity for people to get to the jobs and increase the chances of improvement in their lives. Starting from the grade 4 vacancies to the various posts such as railway station master and such, most of these recruitments are done through the RRBs, which are spread in different parts of the country.
There are different reasons for employment in the railways and one of the many reasons why people have been coming for the RRB recruitment 2013 is that of the large number of options that the railways present. National Mining Development Corporation is a Navratna company under the Ministry of Steel in India. It is one of those public sector enterprises of India, which bring strength to the Indian economy and a variety to the employment opportunities. To be a part of NMDC is a matter of pride for the recruits and they are opting for the company because there are a number of jobs found with the company.
NMDC recruitment 2013 is therefore sought by people, usually after they pass out from their education. Starting from pharmacist post to that of the engineers, there are plenty of vacancies published by the public sector company for the people who are interested to work in one of Indias leading PSUs. Also, there are a number of offices and mining units under the NMDC, where recruitment is going on and the massive expansion plan is to be rightly corroborated with the help of NMDC recruitment 2013.
Another major company under the Government of India is that of the National Informatics Centre, which is responsible for various IT related works. These activities are carried out in large numbers in the country, now that the government is trying for computerisation and IT linking of the various organisations. Due to the rapid rate of work going on through the NIC, the NIC recruitment 2013 is a prospective time for the students who are seeking to get into various posts in the National Informatics Centre.
For the present, there are vacancies announced for scientific officers and Junior Research Fellow in different places of NIC offices. These are opportunities which people will not be leaving out because they have the potential to put a big jump in the careers of people. The variety of jobs has been the primary reasons, for which people from various areas of the country have been coming out for vacancies in NIC, NMDC and RRB.