State Representative Beth Griffin is passing along some information to those who are trying to file for unemployment benefits. She tells us the unemployment agency’s website is going offline tonight for upgrades to handle all of the extra traffic it’s getting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Because the Unemployment Insurance Agency has been unable to keep up with the growing number of inquiries it receives every day, it needs some reinforcement,” Griffin said. “It’s about time. It needs to happen because people are not taking in any paychecks right now, they still have bills to pay and groceries to buy. This isn’t some potential disaster. It’s actually happening right now.”
Griffin got word of the outage today. She says the website will be offline tonight starting at 11 and through 7 Saturday morning. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency has also released some recommendations for those attempting to file by phone. It says if your last name starts with a letter from A to L, you should call on Mondays and Wednesdays. If your last name starts with M through Z, call Tuesdays or Thursdays. If you missed your scheduled day, call on Friday or Saturday.
