A claim for UI benefits is initiated by filing a claim over the telephone or in person. If the DUA service representative initially finds the claimant eligible, he or she notifies the employer of the claim by mailing a UI Request of Information to the employer which notifies it of the claim. The employer has 10 days in which to respond by returning the completed UI Request to DUA.  The due date for the response is on the upper right hand corner of the form.

If the employer fails to respond without "good cause" within this 10‑day period, the employer is barred from participating as a party to any related proceedings. The lead case on the subject of good cause for failing to timely respond is Torres v. Director of the Div. of Employment Sec., 387 Mass. 776, 443 N.E.2d 1297 (1982). In Torres, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that an employer who did not receive notice because of a misaddressed envelope had good cause. An employer who has lost "party" status may nevertheless still participate in the unemployment hearing, but as a witness only. This means that the employer may provide testimony and/or documents regarding the claimant's job separation, but has no right to cross examine the claimant, to postpone the hearing, or to appeal the decision.

Legislation enacted in 2009 transferred from the Department of Revenue to DUA the responsibility for collecting the wage reports that employers are required to file (for UI, taxation and other purposes).  G.L. c. 151A, § 14P, inserted by St. 2009, c. 4, § 78.  New DUA regulations at 430 CMR §§ 5.20 through 5.23 set out the procedural requirements employers or their agents must following in reporting wages.

Note: The timely return of the UI Request Form to DUA determines the next step and gives the employer an opportunity either to corroborate the employee's entitlement to benefits or to claim that benefits should not be granted.

If the employer checks the box marked "laid off," the employee is deemed eligible and should begin to receive benefits immediately. (See Receiving Benefits, Part 5.)

On the other hand, if the employer checks a range of other options, UI benefits are withheld until DUA does a determination of eligibility by telephone. Thus in discharge or quit cases, or in cases where the circumstances of separation are questionable, or where there are other issues on a claim, the claim is then sent to a DUA claims adjudicator for a determination.

Other examples of reasons DUA may investigate a claim include: a claimant is not available for or actively seeking work; a claimant is on a leave of absence; a claimant is receiving other pay or workers compensation; a claimant is receiving a pension; and the claimant is a non‑citizen and lacks proof of current work authorization.

Note: Under DUA policy, DUA adjudicates all separations that occurred during a claimant's last eight weeks of employment. This means that even if a clamant worked multiple jobs and left one job before learning that he or she would lose another job, DUA will adjudicate both separations and can still disqualify the claimant based on the first separation. See Question 45. Further, a claimant may receive more than one notice of disqualification and must appeal each one in order to preserve eligibility for full UI benefits.