What Can Disqualify You From Massachusetts Unemployment?

In Massachusetts, the actions that can disqualify you from unemployment are quitting without good cause tied to your employer, being fired for deliberate misconduct, turning down suitable work, failing to meet the weekly work-search requirement, and committing fraud on your claim. Under Chapter 151A, Section 25, a disqualification isn’t just a pause. You have to work at least eight weeks and earn at least eight times your weekly benefit amount before you can collect again.¹ With the maximum weekly benefit at $1,105, that’s real money to lose.²

Quitting Without Good Cause

Voluntary resignation is the fastest way to lose benefits. The statute requires that you left for “good cause attributable to the employing unit or its agent.”¹ That phrase does the work. Personal frustration, a career change, or moving for a partner’s job won’t clear the bar. The employer must have done something, or failed to do something, that made staying untenable.

What usually counts: a significant, unilateral cut to your pay or hours; unsafe conditions the employer refused to fix; harassment the employer knew about and ignored. The Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) weighs the evidence and asks whether a reasonable person in your position would have quit. Documentation matters. Emails, texts, written complaints, and pay stubs carry weight; a vague account of a bad boss does not.

The New-Job Exception

If you quit one job in good faith to start a new permanent, full-time position and the new employer then lets you go, you aren’t disqualified, as long as the separation from the new job was the employer’s fault.¹

Domestic Violence

Massachusetts protects workers who leave because of domestic violence. If you had to quit because an abuser knew your workplace or commute, or because you needed to address the physical, psychological, or legal effects of the abuse, you can still qualify. You don’t need to prove you told your employer before you left. The DUA looks at whether leaving was reasonably necessary for your safety or your immediate family’s safety.

Being Fired for Misconduct

Not every firing disqualifies you. The question is whether you were terminated for deliberate misconduct in willful disregard of the employer’s interest, or for a knowing violation of a reasonable and uniformly enforced workplace rule.¹ Being bad at your job is not the same as willfully disregarding your employer’s interests. The statute is explicit that incompetence doesn’t count, even when it results in a policy violation.

The employer, not you, carries the burden of proof. A Board of Review decision quoting the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court stated that “the grounds for disqualification…are considered to be exceptions or defenses to an eligible employee’s right to benefits, and the burdens of production and persuasion rest with the employer.”³ The employer must show both that you engaged in the specific conduct cited and that the conduct was deliberate rather than a good-faith lapse.

Theft, falsified time records, showing up intoxicated, or repeated insubordination after clear warnings almost always qualify. A single careless remark or an isolated mistake usually won’t. The DUA looks at whether the behavior was intentional, whether you knew the rule, and whether the employer enforced it consistently.

Refusing Suitable Work

Once you’re collecting, turning down a job offer can end your claim if the DUA finds the offer “suitable.” The statute lists the factors: whether the job is dangerous to your health, safety, or morals; whether it reasonably fits your training and experience; whether it’s within a reasonable commute; whether it accommodates the effects of domestic violence; and whether travel costs are significantly greater than at your former job.¹

The law also lists work that can never be considered suitable, whatever the other factors say:

The position is vacant because of a strike or lockout.
The pay, hours, or conditions are substantially worse than what’s typical for similar work in the area.
Accepting the job would require joining a company union or giving up membership in a legitimate labor organization.

If you decline an offer, write down your reasons in detail while they’re fresh. “The commute felt too long” carries far less weight than “the round trip was 90 minutes each way by bus, compared to 20 minutes at my previous job.”

Failing the Work Search Requirement

Filing your weekly claim isn’t enough. You must actively look for work, and the DUA expects a detailed log showing at least three job contacts per week.⁴ Each entry should record the date, employer name, address, phone number, and result. An invitation to apply that you didn’t act on, or a single call to your former employer and union, won’t satisfy the requirement.

The DUA can audit your log at any time. If the entries lack detail, you can lose benefits for the weeks where the search fell short. Treat the log the way you’d treat a receipt.

Fraud and Unreported Earnings

Fraud means knowingly providing false information or hiding relevant facts to collect benefits. The common patterns: misrepresenting why you lost your job, not reporting part-time earnings, and filing weekly claims while working full-time. A finding of fraud triggers mandatory repayment of overpaid benefits and disqualification from future benefits.¹

The unreported-earnings piece catches people who don’t think of themselves as committing fraud. Part-time work does not automatically disqualify you, but every dollar has to be reported. Massachusetts uses a one-third earnings disregard: you can earn up to one-third of your weekly benefit amount without any reduction, and anything above that gets subtracted dollar-for-dollar from your payment.⁵ Failing to report earnings, even small ones, can be treated as fraud.

The DUA investigates by cross-referencing wage data with other state and federal agencies. That matching is automated, so gaps between your weekly certifications and employer payroll records surface quickly. Severe cases can bring criminal charges. The line between an honest mistake and fraud usually comes down to whether you knew the information was wrong. Reporting changes in employment or income right away, even when you’re unsure they matter, is the simplest way to stay on the right side of that line.

What to Do If You Receive a Disqualification Notice

You have 10 days from the mailing date printed on the determination letter to file an appeal.⁶ Calendar days, not business days. The clock runs from the date on the letter, not the day it lands in your mailbox. File first and gather evidence after; missing the deadline can end your claim.

After you file, the DUA assigns a review examiner who holds a hearing where both you and the employer present testimony and evidence. Most cases are won or lost here. Bring anything that supports your version of events: emails, text messages, written warnings, pay stubs, photos of unsafe conditions, medical notes. Witnesses who can corroborate your account help. You can bring a lawyer or another representative, though the DUA may review any fee they charge you.

If the examiner rules against you, the Board of Review is the next step. The Board generally does not hold a new hearing; it reviews the record and decides whether Massachusetts law was applied correctly.⁶ Federal standards require states to issue at least 60% of first-level appeal decisions within 30 days and 80% within 45 days, so these cases move faster than most legal proceedings.⁷ If the Board rules against you, judicial review is available through the Massachusetts court system.

1
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Part I, Title XXI, Chapter 151A – Section 25
2
Mass.gov. How Unemployment Insurance Benefits Are Determined
3
Mass.gov. Board of Review Decision 352-MNJ5-HVM7
4
Mass.gov. AA 500.00 Work Search
5
Mass.gov. Working While Receiving Unemployment Benefits
6
Mass.gov. Appeal an Unemployment Decision as a Claimant
7
eCFR. Part 650 – Standard for Appeals Promptness – Unemployment Compensation