Unemployment benefits in Massachusetts

Can I get benefits?

You must have earned at least $6,300 in your base period, and your base-period wages must be at least 30 times your weekly benefit amount.

Law: M.G.L. c. 151A, secs. 1(a), 24(a)

If you quit

If you quit, you are disqualified unless you show, with substantial and credible evidence, that you had good cause for leaving connected to your employer, or that your reasons were so urgent, compelling and necessitous that leaving was involuntary.

If you were fired

Being fired does not by itself stop benefits.

Law: M.G.L. c. 151A, sec. 25(c), (e)

Quit, fired, refused work and the federal rules →

The wage test, the amount and your estimate →

How much and how long?

Weekly benefit

up to $1,154

Weeks

Currently 30 weeks (it changes with the unemployment rate)

Waiting week

A waiting week

How it is figured, the full rules and the estimate tool →

How to file in Massachusetts

Apply online through Unemployment Services for Workers, or by phone at 1-877-626-6800, Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can also get help in person at the Boston Re-Employment Center by appointment.

Apply as soon as you lose your job or your hours are cut.

What to have ready

• Your Social Security number, birth date, home address, email address and phone number
• Social Security numbers and birth dates of any dependents
• Driver's license or state ID number and expiration date, if you have one

Certify (claim your weeks)

Weekly. Request benefits for each week online or by calling the TeleCert line at 617-626-6338 (daily, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.).

Everything about filing →

Appeal a denial

• Request for a hearing (appeal of a DUA determination) — 10 calendar days from the mailing date on your determination letter
• Appeal to the Board of Review (application for review) — 30 calendar days from the date on the Hearing Appeal Results page of your hearing decision
• Civil action for judicial review in District Court (or Boston Municipal Court) — 30 calendar days

Deadline calculator, appeal letter and hearing checklist: Appeal details →

The hearing

Format

By phone, video (virtual) or in person.

Overpayments and waivers

If DUA later decides you were not eligible for benefits it paid, it sends a Notice of Redetermination with the reason, the weeks and amount overpaid, any penalties, and how to appeal and ask for a waiver.

Respond within

DUA tells you before it redetermines your claim and gives you a chance to talk with staff about the new information.

Appeal within

10 days from the mailing date of the Notice of Redetermination (or Notice of Fault or Fraud Finding)

Fraud penalty

15% added when the overpayment is fraud

Waiver

The state can waive some overpayments.

Law: M.G.L. c. 151A, sec. 69(a), (e)

Waiver details and the hearing checklist →

Someone filed a claim in your name

If someone applied for benefits using your information, report it to DUA online or at 1-877-626-6800. Have your name, birth date, the last 6 digits of your Social Security number, your contact details, and the Claimant ID, Claim ID or Letter ID from the notice. DUA locks the claim, will not report the payments as your income, and can send you a corrected 1099-G.

• Report it online
• Phone: 1-877-626-6800

National steps

1. Report it to the state where the claim was filed and follow its instructions. Some states ask for a police report or a sworn statement.
2. If you got a 1099-G for benefits you did not receive, the state will send a corrected 1099-G. When you file taxes, report only the income you actually received; do not wait for the corrected form.
3. Check your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322-8228. Report other identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov.
4. You can also report unemployment identity fraud that happened after March 2020 to the U.S. Department of Justice National Center for Disaster Fraud. You must still report it to the state.

U.S. Department of Labor: report unemployment identity fraud

Good to know in Massachusetts

• The maximum weekly benefit is reset every October; it is $1,154 for claims starting on or after October 4, 2026 (DUA).
• Massachusetts pays a $25 weekly allowance for each dependent child, on top of the weekly benefit.

  Law: M.G.L. c. 151A, sec. 29(c)

• Benefits can last up to 30 weeks, longer than in most states, but drop to 26 times the weekly benefit when unemployment is low in all 10 metro areas.

  Law: M.G.L. c. 151A, sec. 30(a)

Changes in 2024–2026

The maximum weekly benefit changes each year on the first Sunday of October; it became $1,154 on October 4, 2026. No 2024-2026 changes to the waiting week, appeal deadlines, duration rule or waiver section were found in the current General Laws text.

Questions about unemployment in Massachusetts