Unemployment Benefits
MCL 421.29 — quitting, misconduct, and 30 days to protest
A person who left work voluntarily without good cause attributable to the employer is disqualified from benefits, and anyone who left is presumed to have done so. The claimant carries the burden of proving the leaving was involuntary or for good cause attributable to the employer.
The section also presumes or treats these as leaving voluntarily without good cause, the first two open to rebuttal:
- Reducing working status to less than full time.
- Being absent 3 or more consecutive work days without contacting the employer.
- Negligently losing a job requirement the person was told about when hired.
A person claiming to have left for medical reasons must, before leaving, have had a statement from a medical professional that continuing in the job would harm their physical or mental health, and have tried unsuccessfully both to get other work with the employer and to get a leave of absence.
A person suspended or discharged for misconduct connected with the work, or for intoxication at work, is disqualified, as is a person discharged for assault and battery, theft, or willful destruction of property connected with the work. Leaving does not disqualify in cases the section lists, among them leaving unsuitable work within 60 days of starting it during a benefit year, a military spouse following a reassignment, and a victim of domestic violence who meets the requirements of another section.
30 days to protest a determination. An interested party may ask for review of a determination, or transfer to an administrative law judge for a hearing, not more than 30 days after it is mailed or served. A redetermination is final unless an appeal is filed within 30 days after its notice. After that the agency reconsiders only for good cause, and not more than 1 year after the original determination, or 3 years where it involved a finding of fraud.
How long a disqualification lasts, and how benefits are calculated, are in other parts of the act and are not covered here.
Sources for this section (2)
- MCL 421.29 — Disqualification from unemployment benefits
- MCL 421.32a — Review and redetermination of an unemployment determination
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Michigan attorney.