Legislature Passes Modified COVID Unemployment
and Employer Liability Protections
Overnight, the Legislature passed MMA-supported bills codifying numerous COVID-related protections in the wake of a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that vacated Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders related to the pandemic. Earlier this week, the Michigan Supreme Court made clear that the decision was effective when the order was entered on 10/2/20.
Senate Bill 886 (Senator Ken Horn, R-Frankenmuth) restores some language from the Governor’s executive orders that provides flexibility in unemployment claims during the pandemic and protects employers from a spike in their unemployment taxes. The bill ensures that Michigan maintains access to federal funding for extended unemployment benefits by temporarily maintaining a 26-week state benefit duration and allows employers a full year to protest unemployment claims made between 3/15/20 and 1/1/21. Importantly, SB 886 restores the requirement that a claimant be actively engaged in a work search as a condition of receiving benefits.
House Bills 6030 (Representative Tom Albert, R-Lowell), 6031 (Representative Tommy Brann, R-Wyoming) and 6101 (Representative Wendell Byrd, D-Detroit) provide critically important protections for employers from all civil tort claims and actions under the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act (MIOSHA) as long as the employer follows all relevant statutes, rules, regulations and orders that were in legal effect at the time.
MMA was a leading voice in the creation, negotiation and enactment of this legislation. To learn more, contact MMA’s Mike Johnston at 517-487-8554 or johnston@mimfg.org.
Get the Latest on COVID-19-Related Orders
Get details on action taken by the Legislature and new orders issued by state and local agencies during a live webinar with MMA’s Government Affairs team on Friday, 10/16/20, at 1:00 p.m. Hear the latest intelligence and offer your perspective to inform MMA’s efforts to protect manufacturing interests and prevent any interruption in manufacturing production.
Call-in Number: 517-376-3715
Conference ID: 557 020 093#
New & Notable
Webinar: Access $75K in Matching
Funds to Offset Foreign Competition
Host: Great Lakes Trade
Adjustment Assistance Center
Thursday, October 15, 2020 • 9:30 a.m.
Register online.
Rising foreign competition in the time of COVID is a major challenge for many small manufacturers. Learn how the federally funded Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAAF) program can help qualified companies make the changes they need to get in shape for the long run.
More than 70,000 Apply for Futures for Frontliners
The Futures for Frontliners program, a scholarship program for essential workers to attend community college tuition-free, recognizes and rewards workers who have been on the frontlines of defense against the COVID-19 threat, empowering them to pursue advanced skills while they work to support the manufacturing-driven economic recovery.
Applications are available at michigan.gov/frontliners now through 12/31/20. Resources to promote this upskilling opportunity to your workforce are also available online.
Resources for Manufacturers
Stay updated and compliant with state, federal and member resources on MMA’s COVID-19 Resources.