How to apply for Unemployment Insurance in Massachusetts

• You can apply for benefits on the Department of Unemployment Assistance’s (DUA’s) Unemployment Services website. Information about UI benefits and instructions for how to apply online are also available in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, Khmer, Lao, Italian, French, Korean, and Arabic.
• You can also apply for UI over the phone with DUA: 877-626-6800. Help is available in many languages over the phone.
• To apply in person, you must make an appointment at DUA’s Boston Re-Employment Center, 2 Avenue de Lafayette, Boston, MA 02111. 

See the DUA website to learn what information you will need for your application or “claim.”

To use DUA’s new Unemployment Services website, you will need to create a MyMassGov account. Or, link your MyMassGov account to the Unemployment Services website if you have one already.

It sometimes takes several weeks to get a decision about your UI benefits. You need to start requesting benefits and “certifying” your job search the week after you apply, even if you have not heard from DUA yet.

This video by the DUA explains how to use the Unemployment Services website to file for Massachusetts Unemployment Benefits.

After you file your application for benefits, DUA might ask you to prove your identity at a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) location or by sending DUA documents that will verify your identity.

See How can I prove my identity? to learn how to verify your identity with DUA.

After you verify your identity, DUA might also ask other questions to make sure you are eligible for UI benefits. They send you a questionnaire and a deadline to answer it. You can answer it online, by phone, or by mail. Learn more about how to answer requests for information about your application on the DUA’s website.

You need to ask for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits each week you are unemployed, starting the week after you apply for UI. The benefits you get are for the week before. You can request weekly benefits either online or by phone:

• Online: On your Unemployment Services account, click the “Request benefits" link.
• Phone: Call (617) 626-6338.
• You can find instructions and a video showing you how to claim benefits on DUA’s website. 

Make sure you have:

• Your social security number,
• The amount of wages you earned if you worked during the week you are requesting UI for, and
• Your TeleCert 4-digit PIN (if you are requesting by phone).

See more detailed instructions on the DUA website.

Predating your claim

If you were delayed in filing your application for UI benefits, you may want to ask DUA to “predate” your claim to the 1st week you were unemployed. Call DUA at 877-626-6800 to ask them to start your claim on the 1st week you became unemployed. 

DUA might let you predate your claim if:

• you had a good reason for not filing your application earlier,
• you tried to contact DUA before you were able to file your application but were not able to reach them, or
• your employer did not give you written instructions about your right to apply for UI benefits when your job ended. 

Once you apply for Unemployment Insurance, you need to certify your work search every week by phone or online. This means you need to be looking for a job and have proof if they ask you. You also need to certify any earnings. Visit DUA’s website for instructions on how to certify by phone or online.

You need to start certifying 1 week after you apply, even if you haven't heard from DUA yet.

The DUA requires that you:

• do at least 3 “work search activities” each week you get benefits;
• keep a log of these work searches; and
• report at least 3 work search activities for each week you claim benefits.

See a sample work search log. “Work search activities” include activities like filling out a job application, going to a job interview, looking at job postings online, or contacting an employer.

 

 

Visit DUA’s website for instructions on how to report work search activities online.

If DUA denies your application, keep certifying while you are appealing. If you win your appeal you can get benefits back to the date you applied for UI.

Note: If you were approved for a Section 30 training “TOP” program, you do not have to search for work after being approved for and while attending the program. 

Important 

Even if you haven't heard back from the DUA yet, you need to request weekly benefits and “certify” that you are looking for work each week after you apply for UI.

After you apply, the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) will send you their decisions about your case. You get letters from DUA either by mail or in your Unemployment Services account, depending on the option you chose when you applied. You will receive a “monetary” determination saying whether you earned enough money to qualify for UI benefits. You may also receive one or more decisions on “non-monetary” issues affecting your eligibility. 

These letters will tell you if the DUA has decided to give you benefits or not. Save these letters! If the DUA says you cannot get benefits, you will need information from the letters to ask them to look at your case more carefully. See how to appeal. It is important that you appeal any of these decisions that you disagree with separately.

It sometimes takes several weeks after verifying your identity to get a decision on your application for Unemployment Insurance benefits.

If you have waited several weeks and still haven’t heard back from the DUA, you can try calling your state representative or senator. They can sometimes call DUA on your behalf, which might help get the agency's attention. Find out who your representative and senator are.

You can also call DUA at 877-626-6800.

If the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) says you cannot get UI benefits, you can ask it to look at your case again. This is called appealing a denial. Learn how to appeal a denial.

It is important that you appeal the denial within 10 days of the date of DUA’s decision denying you benefits.

If DUA finds you are eligible, you can get UI benefits either through direct deposit to your bank account or a debit card.

If you set up direct deposit to a checking or savings account, it will take 9 business days to verify your bank account. After that, each week once the DUA approves your request for benefits, it will take 2 business days for the money to be deposited into your account.

To check the status of your payment, call (617) 626-6563.

To set up, change, or stop direct deposits of your UI benefits, call the DUA Direct Deposit Line at (617) 626-6570.