Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-10, which expanded Michigan’s Work Share Program (in addition to temporarily expanding eligibility for unemployment benefits, described below).

Employers must meet and maintain certain requirements in order to participate:

Unemployment taxes must be current

Must have paid wages for at least 12 of the previous quarters

Must not hire new employees into the affected work unit, not transfer employees into the unit during a plan

May not reduce hours of work below a number approved under the plan; and

Must certify that participation in a plan is in lieu of a temporary lay-off which reduces employee’ normal work hours by at least 15 percent but not more than 20 percent.