Whitmer: Michigan to use federal $300 unemployment bonus as back-to-work incentive

[In It to Win It]

USA Today via Yahoo News

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to expand how Michigan uses federal unemployment funds to incentivize Michiganders to return to work after the COVID-19 pandemic, she announced Monday.

The plan involves providing a bonus of $300 per week to specific employees returning to their previous jobs through the week of Sept. 4, Whitmer said during a wide-ranging news conference.

She did not say when the program would start, how many people are expected to be eligible or any eligibility dates for those returning to work.

The payments are currently available only to employers participating in the state workshare program who bring back people previously employed, Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy said.

But the governor is working with the Legislature to change the law to provide bonuses for any new employee hired by a business through a workshare program, not just those previously employed who are brought back. Leddy said additional details would be available later this week.

"We're going to use the federal $300 per week in unemployment benefits to our advantage, so we can incentivize people to get back to work, maximize a family's income and help employers fully build up their businesses and staff," Whitmer said.

[Blue_true]

1. The difference between a Democratic Governor and a republican one.

With the exception of maybe Baker in Ma, the Vermont Governor and maybe Hogan in Maryland, republican governors have used punitive methods.

The Michigan idea is very solid and will likely yield highly positive results. People in some income classes can use the extra $300 to pay childcare expenses after going back to work, elimination economic shock, given that many are likely behind on expenses. Michigan should try to come up with $300 for people that had to work through the pandemic as essential workers, since that includes a lot of lower paid people.

[Mad_Machine76]

2. It's a nice idea

but there are a variety of factors- not just money- that play into people's decisions (or ability) to re-enter the workforce after COVID. Those need to be addressed too

[Crowman2009]

3. Such as managers who are both anti-vax & anti-mask, lax safety measures, no-pay OT...

...customers who are total a-holes. Not to mention that some former employees are probably dead or disabled from COVID-19. Plus there is the upward mobility factor involving the death or retirement of high income/college degree jobs or executive positions that are later filled by college graduates holding lower-income jobs.