SCHEDULE FOR FILING JOBLESS CLAIMS BY TELEPHONE

DECEMBER 19, 2005 – Unemployed workers in Michigan will have a shorter time frame in which to apply for unemployment benefits by telephone during the Christmas and New Year holiday periods.

Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) Director Sharon Bommarito advised workers that the agency’s toll-free telephone system for taking new applications for unemployment benefits will be altered during the week before Christmas, Christmas week and New Year’s week.

UIA’s toll-free phone claims application line – 1-866-500-0017 – will be open from:

• Monday, December 19, through Thursday, December 22,



• Tuesday, December 27, through Thursday, December 29, and from



• Tuesday, January 3, through Friday, January 6, 2006.

The phone system will be closed on Friday, December 23;  Monday, December 26;  Friday, December 30;  and Monday, January 2, 2006.

During the weeks of December 27 – 29 and January 3 – 6, the phone system will allow workers to call in at any time between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to file their claims for unemployment benefits.  No changes to call-in schedules are being made to the week of December 19 – 22, as Friday, December 23, is a make-up day for workers who miss their designated call-in times on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  Normally, workers call in their unemployment claims at specific times based on the last two digits of their Social Security numbers.

“Callers may find it easier to get through and file their claims if they call in after 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon, when call volumes start to drop off from their heavy morning levels,” Bommarito advised.

While hours for the agency’s telephone filed claims system will be adjusted over the holidays, UIA’s Internet system for taking new claims will continue its normal hours of operation, which are from 7:00 a.m. Monday through 7:00 p.m. Saturday (Eastern time).  Online claims can be filed at the agency’s website (www.michigan.gov/uia). 

Bommarito also noted that a recent enhancement to UIA’s website now allows federal government and newly discharged military personnel to file their claims online.

“For those who have already filed for unemployment benefits, our MARVIN system will continue its normal hours during the holidays,” Bommarito said.  “MARVIN will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, but callers must follow a call-in schedule based on their Social Security numbers.  The schedule is included in the handbooks workers received when they filed their claims.”

Workers filing unemployment claims are required to call the MARVIN (Michigan’s Automated Response Voice Interactive Network) system once every two weeks to certify about their unemployment status before the agency will issue their unemployment checks.