A claimant must be in total or partial unemployment in order to be eligible for benefits. G.L. c.151A, § 29(b).

A person is in total unemployment in any week in which he or she performs no wage-earning services, and for which she or he receives no pay or other remuneration. G.L. c. 151A, § 1(r)(2). Examples of remuneration include salaries, bonuses, commissions, reasonable cash value of room and board, other in-kind payments. For a full description, see G.L. c. 151A, § 1(r)(3).  Examples of payments that are not considered to be disqualifying remuneration include:  severance payments where there has been a release of claims, payments for unused vacation or sick time, or lump sum payments made in connection with certain plant closings.

A person is in partial unemployment in any week he or she is working less than full-time and has earned less than the weekly unemployment benefit she or he would be entitled to if totally unemployed during that week, and the failure to work full-time is due to the employer's failure to provide full-time work. G.L. c. 151A, § 1(r)(1).

The following individuals are not considered to be unemployed:

• A person who is on a leave of absence at his or her request (see more on leaves of absence below);
• An employee of an educational institution during a period between academic years or terms, if the person has a "reasonable assurance" of work in the subsequent year or term, G.L. c. 151A, § 28A, see Question 37;
• On-call workers who have any work in a given week; and
• Any person who is self-employed.
• A person who receives vacation pay when the employer closes a business for vacation purposes.

In Between Periods of Work

The Board of Review has held that a claimant was in “total unemployment” under G.L. c. 151A, § 1(r)(2) when he was between tours of duty on the employer’s merchant marine vessel. BR-111428 (02/25/2011).

Leaves of Absence

Although the general rule is that an individual cannot be considered totally or partially unemployed if they are on a voluntary leave of absence from employment, there are exceptions to this rule. In BR-116510 (04/04/2011), the Board held that a claimant was still “partially or totally unemployed” for § 29(b) purposes and thus eligible for benefits for a certain week, even though he was still technically on a leave of absence from the instant employer. The Board reasoned that because the leave of absence was more of an “administrative hold” than an actual leave of absence, the claimant had constructively resigned from the instant employer.

If an employee takes a leave from employment for a medical procedure with the intent to return to work afterward, but is capable of performing other kinds of work in the meantime, this may not mean the employee is ineligible for benefits. In BR-112431-EB-OP (02/23/2011), the Board disagreed with the Review Examiner’s legal conclusion that a claimant who was injured and who planned to return to work after having surgery was not in unemployment because she was on an “implied leave of absence.” The Board concluded instead that, in light of the fact the claimant was still available for other forms of work despite her injury, the claimant’s departure from her job (which required the use of her arm in lifting and carrying) constituted an involuntary separation for urgent, compelling, and necessitous reasons under § 25(e).