Posts tagged Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency
Andrews joins Labor Caucus to announce new unemployment legislation
September 21, 2025 // “Everything from adjusting the way that the unemployment rates are garnishments and the minimum percentages that are taken off, all the way down to how we classify workers,” Andrews said. The bill from Andrews would implement the “ABC Test” at the Unemployment Insurance Agency. The test is used in states like California to better determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.
Former UIA contract worker sentenced for stealing taxpayer money
July 19, 2023 // Regulation agents with the UIA’s Fraud and Investigations Division built a detailed case against Semaje Reffigee by identifying irregular claim activity that uncovered a kickback scheme to defraud the agency and Michigan taxpayers. Reffigee is one of nearly 50 fraudsters – four of them former UIA staff or contract workers – who have been convicted of unemployment insurance crimes. Many more cases are pending. In a plea agreement, Reffigee was sentenced in Detroit to 18 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for her participation in the pandemic-related unemployment insurance fraud scheme. She was ordered to pay $313,497 in restitution to the state of Michigan. The UIA uses internal and external tools as well as close collaborations with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to file charges and bring suspects to justice. Charges have been brought in more than 100 criminal cases UIA’s investigators have built since March 2020. Once detailed evidence is gathered and suspects identified, agents work with the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (U.S. DOL-OIG) as well as local, state and federal authorities to prosecute the cases.