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What if you have a good reason for not meeting Work Program rules?

Alert

DTA made a number of changes and suspended a number of rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Guide notes in red when a rule was suspended during the pandemic.

Produced by Deborah Harris and Betsy Gwin, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Reviewed December 2022

The Work Program was suspended during the pandemic. DTA has reinstated the Work Program but has not reinstated sanctions. The rules below are the rules before the pandemic.

You should not be sanctioned if you have good cause for not meeting the Work Program rules or your Employment Development Plan. Good cause reasons include:

If DTA thinks you are not meeting the work requirement, it will send you a form listing the good cause reasons. To stop DTA from reducing or cutting off your benefits, circle the good cause reasons that apply, add any other reasons you think are good cause, and return the form to your worker within 10 days.

Advocacy Reminders

You may have good cause if no one at the work placement speaks your language or the placement is not appropriate for some other reason. See What if you can’t find an appropriate Work Activity?

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