Gov. Whitmer touting her “workshare” program

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is asking lawmakers to reinstate certain employers’ ability to hire new workers who, while working, would still get a $300-a-week unemployment benefit into early September. The governor is touting Michigan’s “workshare” program as a return-to-work incentive as companies struggle to fill jobs amid the pandemic. It provides partial jobless benefits when businesses bring back laid-off employees at reduced hours or they cut workers’ hours rather than let them go. Whitmer wants businesses in the program to be able to hire employees who lost their job elsewhere — not just former workers.