The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency has deep roots in the employer community and strives to offer the best customer service and information in many forums to the more than 200,000 of our Michigan businesses and employers. We have many changes and improvements on our horizon, specifically the UIA new director. Please welcome Julia Dale to UIA.

December and January are very busy months for UIA. Re-determinations and late, missing or amended reports will not be posted until after January 3, 2022. Look out for your annual Form UIA 1771, containing your 2022 tax rate during the first week of January. Also, please note that tax rates will be slightly lower for 2022.

The UIA 2022 taxable wage base for employers will be $9,500.

Finally, if you would like to suggest articles or topics for this newsletter or would like to nominate your company to participate in Michigan Employer Advisor Focus Group, please send a message to UIA-EmployerAdvisor@Michigan.gov.

Please have a happy and safe holiday season.

Julia Dale, the new director at the Unemployment Insurance Agency, is committed to working closely with Michigan’s business community on important issues that employers face.

Julia has 20 years of experience in management and regulatory roles with the State of Michigan. She comes to the UIA from the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, and prior to that served as an assistant attorney general.

Among Julia’s priorities is efficiently processing transactions so companies can focus more on serving customers than on interactions with the UIA.

“I want to strengthen our agency’s existing stakeholder relationships for an even broader and more comprehensive network that will allow us to better serve Michigan’s businesses,” she said.  “I’ll work closely with UIA’s Tax and Employer Services Division and the Office of Employer Ombudsman
to make sure we respond to employer needs in a timely manner.”

Excellence in customer service is very important to Julia as she leads the agency into the future.

“I’m particularly excited about our Michigan Employer Advisor Focus Group as a way to keep the lines of communication open and identify areas where we can work together to find creative solutions to long-standing problems,” Julia said.

Among the changes businesses can look forward to is an IT system upgrade next year that will improve the user experience when using MiWAM. The agency is also reviewing its communications with stakeholders to reduce the use of confusing jargon and legal language.

If you have a question or suggestion for the new director, you can send an email to UIA-EmployerAdvisor@Michigan.gov.

Good News! The unemployment Trust Fund recently received a $150 million voluntary payment from the State of Michigan. This deposit increased the current balance to approximately $800 million. Although this is significantly lower than the pre-pandemic high balance of $4.7 billion, recent projections indicate the fund will remain solvent through 2022.

Beginning in 2019, Michigan employers experienced a significant reduction in the per employee contributions due to the retirement of the Obligation Assessment bonds. These bonds were originally issued to repay the $3.2 billion borrowed from the federal government during the economic downturn in 2008. To date, Michigan has been able to maintain solvency during the pandemic.

With solvency projected through 2022, Michigan employers will not be subject to additional solvency taxes such as a new Obligation Assessment. However, because the Trust Fund is below the $2.5 billion threshold needed to trigger the $500 discount on the taxable wage base, that will remain at $9,500 for 2022.

More Good News! Although the wage base won't change, the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) projects most employers will experience a slight reduction in their overall tax rates. Why? During the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan temporarily charged the Non-chargeable Benefits account for unemployment benefits resulting from the pandemic.

Therefore, benefits charges will not affect employers experience accounts or factor into their tax rates. As a result, the projected average tax rate is expected to decline in 2022.