What is Unemployment Insurance?

Unemployment Insurance benefits are cash payments for workers who have lost their jobs. Unemployment benefits can also include health insurance and job training, while you look for a new job. Not everyone can collect unemployment benefits, but many workers can. If you lose your job, you may be able to get unemployment benefits while you look for a new job.

In Massachusetts, the Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) runs the Unemployment Insurance (Unemployment Insurance) Program. Each year, employers pay taxes based on the number of employees they have hired, laid off or who have left for other reasons and collect Unemployment Insurance. Money from this tax pays for the Unemployment Insurance program. The US government also gives money to the state for the program.

When you lose your job and it's not your fault, the DUA pays you some of this money as Unemployment Insurance benefits. If the DUA decides to give you Unemployment Insurance, you will be paid every week until you find a job, or until 30 weeks have passed. Sometimes, the US government may add more time to this 30 week period, so you will be able to collect for longer than 30 weeks.

Unemployment benefits are about half of what you earned every week when you were working. Right now, the most that you can collect is $629 a week. If you have dependent children, you may be able to get more money. You can find updated information about unemployment benefits on the DUA’s webpage Overview of Unemployment Benefits.

What are Unemployment Insurance benefits?

Unemployment Insurance benefits include:

• cash payments,
• extended cash benefits while in job training, and
• help with health insurance.

The Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) makes these payments each week for up to 30 weeks. The idea behind unemployment insurance making cash payments is to help you pay your bills while you look for a new job. The DUA looks at how much to pay you based on how much you earned for about one year before you stopped working. It uses this information to decide how much money to give you in unemployment payments.

If you go to a skills training program to help you get a new job, DUA may pay you for as much as 26 more weeks. The training program has to be approved by the DUA.

The DUA also helps you with health insurance.  

To contact the DUA for more information about training, call 617-626-6800 or 877-626-6800, or visit the DUA training website. For more information about medical benefits, call the Medical Security Program at 800-908-8801, or visit the DUA Help with Health Insurance webpage.

Federal extensions for Unemployment Insurance Benefits

Sometimes the economy gets so bad that many people cannot find work. The government recognizes that is harder than usual for most people to find work. So, the US government grants “federal extensions” for people on Unemployment. Federal extensions add more weeks to the time you can keep getting unemployment. You can apply for federal extended benefits through December 2012.

How much money can I get?

Usually, you can get about half what you earned every week when you were working. The most can get is $629 per week.  This amount changes on October 1st of each year.

If you have children, and you provide more than 50% of their support, you may also get up to $25 per week for each child in your family who is

• under the age of 18, or
• under 24 and  a full-time student, or
• cannot work because of mental or physical disabilities (there is no age limit).

What other benefits can I get?

Extended Unemployment Training Benefits (Section 30 Benefits)

You can also get up to 26 extra weeks of Unemployment Insurance benefits while you attend a job training program. The training program must be approved by DUA. This is sometimes called a “Section 30” or Training Opportunity Program (TOP).

You need to apply for a training program as soon as you can.  To get the extra 26 weeks of benefits,  DUA expects you to apply for training benefits within 15 weeks. This means that you must apply for the training less than 15 weeks after the day you first applied for unemployment benefits. But as long as you apply within one year, the DUA will accept many reasons for applying late –after the15 weeks.

In some cases, DUA may say “no” to an application for Unemployment Insurance and then later change this decision and approve it. In this case, you must apply for training benefits no more than 15 weeks after the date DUA approved your application. Again, even if you have a good reason for applying for training benefits late, you must still apply within one year from your first application for Unemployment Insurance.

Note: 

You have up to one year to apply to DUA:

• In difficult economic times,
• if you have left a declining industry, or
• the plant where you worked has shut down forever,  

When the federal government gives Massachusetts extra funds to extend Unemployment Insurance benefits, you may be able to get the extra 26 weeks of Training Opportunities Program benefits. But you must apply for training program benefits within a year after you first applied for Unemployment Insurance. Currently, people who get Unemployment Insurance benefits have one year to apply to DUA for job training benefits. .

If you did not get information about the 15 week requirement or you were given the wrong information, you can apply later.

Help with paying for training

Sometimes you can get federal funding for job training through your local One Stop Career Center. You need to go to the One Stop Career Center to find out about these funds. Go online to find training programs near you.

Help with paying for college (Pell Grants)

You may be able to get a Pell Grant to help pay for college.  As of June 2010, unemployed workers may get special help with Pell Grants.  The US government provides information about Pell Grants and other financial aid programs.