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2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 14l - Work Force Training Contribution Paid by Employers

Section 14L. (a) Each employer liable to pay a contribution under subsection (i) of section 14 shall also pay, in the same manner and at the same times as the commissioner prescribes for the contribution required by said section 14, a workforce training contribution of 0.056 per cent of so much of its wages as are subject to contributions pursuant to clause (4) of subsection (a) of said section 14. To the extent consistent with federal law, the commissioner shall adjust the rate of said contribution so that the total amount of said contributions in a year substantially equals $22,000,000, and shall adjust to the same extent the rate of the contribution required by section 14. The commissioner shall deposit the proceeds of said workforce training contributions in the Workforce Training Fund, established by section 2RR of chapter 29.
(b) Except where inconsistent with the provisions of this section, the terms and conditions of this chapter that apply to the payment of and the collection of contributions shall apply to the same extent to the payment of and the collection of the workforce training contribution required by this section; provided, however, that said contributions shall not be credited to the employer's account or the solvency account established pursuant to section 14, 14A or 14C.
(c) Annually, not later than September 1, the director of career services shall file a report with the joint committee on labor and workforce development and the house and senate committees on ways and means concerning the collection of the workforce training contributions pursuant to subsection (a) for the calendar year ending on the preceding December 31. The report shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the amount collected in each quarter and the total amount collected for the calendar year; (ii) the total number of employers that contributed to the fund and the total number of employees employed by that group of employers; and (iii) the contribution rate, to the extent it differs from 0.056 per cent.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 14o - Fraud Penalty Fund

Section 14O. There shall be a separate fund to be known as the Fraud Penalty Fund which shall be administered by the commissioner, without liability on the part of the commonwealth beyond the amount credited to and earned by the fund. The fund shall consist of all amounts received under section 14N which shall be credited to the fund and any other monies authorized by law to be credited to the fund, including interest earned in the fund. Money in the fund shall be used only to support the department's activities related to detection, prevention and administration of employer fraud provisions of this chapter. The monies in the fund shall be continuously available to the commissioner for those purposes and shall not lapse at any time or be transferred to any other fund or account.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 14q - Collection of Unemployment Compensation Debt by Offset of Federal Tax Refund Payments Through Treasury Offset Program

Section 14Q. The commissioner may enter into an agreement with the Secretary of the Department of Treasury, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. section 6402(f) and 31 CFR section 285.8, to transmit valid, unpaid, and overdue unemployment compensation debts to the Financial Management Service, a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, for collection by offset of federal tax refund payments through the treasury offset program. If the commissioner chooses to participate in the treasury offset program to recover unemployment compensation debt, the commissioner shall adhere to all rules, policies, and guidance as required by the United States Department of the Treasury and the United States Department of Labor in implementing and administering the program. The commissioner may promulgate such regulations as needed to implement this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 15b - Holder of Licenses to Sell Alcoholic Beverages; Failure to Pay Amount Owed; Suspension of License

Section 15B. If any employer is the holder of a license to sell alcoholic beverages and fails to pay any amount required under this chapter within ten days from the date notice to satisfy a judgment obtained pursuant to section fifteen was mailed to such employer, the commissioner or the commissioner's agent may notify the commissioner of the alcoholic beverages control commission of such failure to pay. Upon the written request of the commissioner or commissioner's agent, and after a hearing and notice to the licensee as required under any applicable provision of law, the commissioner of the alcoholic beverages control commission shall suspend the license to sell alcoholic beverages of such licensee until written notice from the commissioner or the commissioner's agent has been received that the amount owed has been paid or that the licensee has entered into a payment agreement acceptable to the commissioner.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 16 - Liens of Judgments and Overdue Contributions; Recording and Filing of Notice; Actions to Enforce Liens

Section 16. Judgments obtained under any provision of section fifteen and overdue contributions or payments in lieu of contributions, with interest thereon or penalties assessed in lieu of interest thereof, shall until collected be a lien upon the entire interest of the employer, legal or equitable, in any property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, subordinate, however, to claims for unpaid wages and prior recorded liens; provided, however, that no lien created by this section shall be valid against a subsequent purchaser or mortgagee in good faith and for value of real or personal property from or of such employer, or against a subsequent attaching creditor, unless with respect to real estate of the employer, a notice of such lien is recorded in the registry of deeds for the county where such real estate is located; and provided, further, with respect to personal property of the employer said notice is recorded with the clerk of the city or town where such personal property is located.
The notice of lien shall be filed within ten years from January thirty-first next succeeding the last day of the calendar year in which wages were paid or within three years from the date the judgment was entered, whichever is later, and shall state the name and address of the employer, and the total amount then unpaid of the aforesaid overdue contributions, or payments in lieu of contributions, and interest thereon or penalties assessed in lieu of interest thereof, or of said judgment. A lien which results from a judgment shall terminate not later than twenty years from the date it was created. All other liens shall terminate not later than ten years from January thirty-first next succeeding the last day of the calendar year in which wages were paid.
In any case where there has been a refusal or neglect to pay any amount owed by the employer under this chapter, the commissioner, in addition to other modes of relief, may cause a civil action to be filed in a district or superior court department of the commonwealth in which the employer has real or personal property or in the municipal court department of the city of Boston or in the superior court department of Suffolk county to enforce a lien created by this section or to subject any property of whatever nature of the employer, or in which it has any rights, title or interest, to the payment of the amount owed the division by the employer.
No recording fee shall be paid by the commissioner for filing a notice of lien under this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 19 - Final Payment to Foreign Corporations or Non-Residents; Certificate

Section 19. No final payment shall be made by the commonwealth, or by any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any city, town or county to a foreign corporation or to a non-resident having no usual place of business within the commonwealth for or on account of services performed within the commonwealth except upon certificate filed by the commissioner with the state comptroller, county, city or town treasurer, or appropriate disbursing official of any other political sub-division of the commonwealth, that the foreign corporation or non-resident is subject to the provisions of this chapter and has paid or made arrangements satisfactory to the commissioner for payment of contributions due thereunder, or that the commissioner has determined upon evidence satisfactory to him that said services performed within this commonwealth are not employment under the provisions of this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 19a - Application for or Renewal of License to Conduct Profession or Business; Certification of Compliance With Contribution Laws; Renewal or Extension of Certain Contracts; False Certifications

Section 19A. (a) Any employer applying to any agency or instrumentality of the commonwealth for a right or license to conduct a profession, trade or business, or for the renewal of such right or license, shall certify upon such application, under penalties of perjury that said employer has complied with all laws of the commonwealth relating to contributions and payments in lieu of contributions. Such rights or licenses shall not be issued or renewed unless such certification is made.
(b) No contract or other agreement for the purpose of providing goods, services or physical space to any agency or instrumentality of the commonwealth shall be entered into, renewed or extended with any employer unless such employer certifies in writing, under penalties of perjury, that said employer has complied with all laws of the commonwealth relating to contributions and payments in lieu of contributions. An agency or instrumentality of the commonwealth shall not enter into, renew or extend a contract or agreement with any employer to provide goods, services or physical space that has a maximum obligation or value greater than $5,000 to the agency or instrumentality or authorize any tax credit pursuant to chapter 62 or 63 in excess of $5,000 unless the employer has submitted a certificate of compliance issued by the department showing that it is current in all its obligations relating to contributions, payments in lieu of contributions and the employer medical assistance contribution established in section 189 of chapter 149.
(c) Whoever certifies falsely that all laws of the commonwealth relating to contributions and payments in lieu of contributions have been complied with shall be subject to the penalty provided in section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-eight. For the purposes of this section, an employer may certify that all laws of the commonwealth relating to contributions and payments in lieu of contributions have been complied with if the employer has entered into and is complying with a repayment agreement satisfactory to the commissioner or if there is a pending adjudicatory proceeding or court action contesting the amount due.
(d) All agencies and instrumentalities of the commonwealth shall provide the commissioner with such information necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. Nothing in any general or special law to the contrary shall prohibit the exchange of such information between the commissioner and the agency or instrumentality.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 20 - Compromise With Employers; Statement of Commissioner Filed

Section 20. (a) The commissioner, with the approval of the state advisory council, may enter into agreements of compromise with an employer in respect to any contributions, penalties and interest due thereunder wherein it is determined by the commissioner that there exists an inability on the part of the employer to make full payment of contribution with interest or penalty thereon, and that said employer has acted in good faith in all his relations with the department, and failure to compromise may result in termination of the employer's business and in loss of employment.
(b) When any compromise or agreement is made under provisions of this section, there shall be placed on file in the office of the department an opinion of the commissioner stating the reasons therefor with a statement of the amount of contribution due, the amount of interest and additional penalty imposed by the commissioner in consequence of the neglect or delinquency of the employer involved and the amount actually paid in accordance with the terms of the compromise. A copy of said opinion and statement shall be filed with the state advisory council.
(c) The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to an employer where there is an unemployment excise tax due on the same services under provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, unless said agreement of compromise shall be contingent upon an agreement or compromise substantially similar in terms having been concluded under provisions of the Internal Revenue Code as to federal unemployment taxes, and evidence satisfactory thereof to the commissioner having been placed on file in the office of the department.
(d) Such agreement or compromise shall be final and conclusive except upon a showing of fraud, malfeasance or misrepresentation of a material fact.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 20a - Settlement for Amount Less Than Owed; Conditions; Agreements Subject to Attorney General Review; Reopening of Case

Section 20A. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the commissioner may accept a lesser amount than that owed by the employer in full and final settlement thereof, provided that the following conditions are met:
(1) the employer has filed a petition in bankruptcy pursuant to 11 USC section 101 et seq;
(2) the commissioner finds that collectibility of the amount due is doubtful;
(3) the commissioner finds that the employer has not acted with intent to defraud;
(4) there is a written agreement signed by the employer and the commissioner or the commissioner's representative, setting forth the reasons for the settlement and all relevant information, including, but not limited to, the name and address of the employer, the settlement amount, and the amount actually paid in accordance with the terms of the settlement. Upon request the commissioner shall make available for public inspection said written agreement; and
(5) the settlement agreement is approved by the federal bankruptcy court judge assigned to the case.
(b) Any settlement agreement under this section which proposes to accept an amount which is twenty thousand dollars or more less than the full amount owed by the employer or which proposes to accept an amount which is less than fifty percent of the full amount owed by the employer shall be submitted to the attorney general for review. Any such settlement proposal shall take effect twenty-one days after its receipt by the attorney general, unless the attorney general objects in writing to the settlement. In the event the attorney general objects to a settlement proposal, such settlement shall not take effect until the objection is resolved by the commissioner and attorney general. Any settlement approved under the terms of this section shall not be subject to the confidentiality provisions of section forty-six.
(c) Neither the employer nor the commissioner, upon signing the settlement agreement, shall be permitted to reopen the case except by reason of (1) falsification or concealment of assets or concealment of the actual amount owed by the employer, or (2) mutual mistake of a material fact sufficient to cause a contract to be reformed or set aside.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of section sixty-nine A, any amount owed that is not collected pursuant to the provisions of this section may be charged off by the commissioner.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 21 - Deductions From Income Returnable for Taxation

Section 21. Contributions made by employers in accordance with this chapter shall be considered ordinary and necessary expenses of the business of the employer, and deductible from gross income from professions, employments, trades or businesses returnable for taxation under chapter sixty-two, or from corporate income returnable for taxation under chapter sixty-three.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 22 - Payment of Benefits in General

Section 22. Benefits shall be payable from the Unemployment Compensation Fund to any individual eligible for benefits under this chapter. Such benefits shall be paid, through the employment offices operated by the commonwealth or such other agencies of the division of unemployment assistance as the Federal Social Security Board or its successor may approve, at such times and in such manner as the commissioner shall prescribe.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 23 - Payment of Benefits; Waiting Period

Section 23. Benefits shall be paid to an eligible individual for no more than his weeks of unemployment subsequent to a waiting period, the duration of which shall be determined as follows:
(a) An individual who is in total or partial unemployment and who registers at an employment office or other place of registration maintained by the commissioner or has otherwise given notice of his unemployment in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the commissioner shall be eligible for benefits for unemployment subsequent to a waiting period sustained with respect to the benefit year to which the claim applies, which benefit year includes the week for which he claims payment for benefits. Said waiting period shall consist of one week of total or partial unemployment. No benefits shall be paid or become payable during said waiting period; thereafter benefits shall be payable weekly and shall be paid weekly; provided, however, that whenever, in the discretion of the commissioner, the public interest would be benefited thereby, benefits may be paid on a bi-weekly basis.
(b) With respect to an individual in total unemployment who has registered or given notice as required by this section the waiting period shall commence on the Sunday immediately preceding the date of registration. With respect to an individual in partial unemployment, such waiting period shall commence on the Sunday next but one preceding such registration or notice; provided, that in the case of an individual in partial unemployment the commissioner may prescribe an earlier Sunday on which such waiting period shall commence.
(c) There shall not be counted towards the required waiting period of an individual any week in which he fails to comply with the requirements of this section and of section twenty-four.
(d) There may be counted toward the required waiting period of an individual any week in which he receives remuneration on a subsistence basis for services rendered to a state or federal agency designed or created to relieve unemployment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 24a - Seasonal Employment

Section 24A. (a) No waiting period shall be allowed and no benefits shall be paid to an individual on the basis of service performed in seasonal employment as defined by subsection (aa) of section one unless the claim is filed within the operating period of the seasonal employment. If the claim is filed outside the operating period of the seasonal employment, benefits may be paid on the basis of nonseasonal wages only.
(b) An employer shall provide the commissioner with such information necessary to make a seasonal determination defined by subsection (cc) of section one. Until the commissioner makes a seasonal determination, no employer or employee may be considered seasonal.
(c) Any employer notified of a seasonal determination may file an appeal regarding a seasonal determination and obtain review of the determination. Such appeal and review shall be in accordance with sections thirty-nine through forty-two, inclusive.
(d) Whenever an employer is determined to be a seasonal employer, the following provisions apply:
(1) The seasonal determination becomes effective the first day of the calendar quarter commencing after the date of the seasonal determination.
(2) The seasonal determination does not affect any benefit rights of seasonal workers with respect to employment before the effective date of the seasonal determination.
(e) If a seasonal employer, after the date of its seasonal determination, operates its business or its seasonal operation during a period or periods of 20 weeks or more in a calendar year, the employer shall be redetermined by the commissioner to have lost its seasonal status with respect to that business or operation effective at the end of the then current calendar quarter. The redetermination shall be reported in writing to the employer. An employer notified of a redetermination may file an appeal of the redetermination and obtain review of the redetermination in accordance with sections thirty-nine through forty-two, inclusive.
(f) Seasonal employers shall keep account of wages paid to seasonal workers within the seasonal period as determined by the commissioner, and shall report these wages on a special seasonal quarterly report form as prescribed by the commissioner.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 26 - Unemployment Benefits Received or Sought Under Laws of Another State or United States

Section 26. No waiting period shall be served and no benefits shall be paid under this chapter to an individual for any week with respect to which, or a part of which, he has received or is seeking unemployment benefits under an unemployment compensation law or employment security law of any other state or of the United States; provided, that, if the appropriate agency of such other state or of the United States finally determines that he is not entitled to such unemployment benefits, this section shall not apply.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 28 - Wages Not Included in Determination of Eligibility for Benefits

Section 28. Wages earned for services defined in subsection (i) of section six irrespective of when performed, shall not be included in determining eligibility for benefits under this chapter for the purposes of any benefit year commencing after July first, nineteen hundred and thirty-nine, nor shall any benefits with respect to unemployment occurring on or after said July first, nineteen hundred and thirty-nine, be payable on the basis of such wages.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 28b - Repayment of Unemployment Benefits Overpaid to Certain Officers, Partners, Owners or Other Interest Holders of Employing Unit

Section 28B. If an employee, who is a corporate officer, partner or owner of an employing unit, or is a person who has more than a 5 per cent equitable or debt interest in an employing unit or is an immediate family member of such individual, receives an unemployment benefit pursuant to this chapter and, during the same benefit year, resumes or returns to work for the same employing unit, then the department may determine that the employee's unemployment was due to circumstances within the employee's control and may seek repayment of any overpaid benefits.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 29f - Uncollected Overissuance of Food Stamp Coupons; Disclosure; Deductions

Section 29F. (a) An individual filing a new initial claim for unemployment benefits shall, at the time of filing such claim, disclose whether or not he owes an uncollected overissuance of food stamp coupons, as defined in section 13 (c) (1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977. The commissioner shall notify the state food stamp agency enforcing such obligation of an individual who discloses that he owes an uncollected overissuance of food stamp coupons and who is determined to be eligible for unemployment benefits.
(b) The commissioner shall deduct and withhold from any unemployment benefits payable to an individual who owes an uncollected overissuance of food stamps:
(1) the amount specified by the individual to the commissioner to be deducted and withheld under this clause;
(2) the amount, if any, determined pursuant to an agreement submitted to the state food stamp agency under section 13 (c) (3) (A) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977; or
(3) any amount otherwise required to be deducted and withheld from unemployment compensation pursuant to section 13 (c) (3) (B) of said Food Stamp Act.
(c) Any amount deducted and withheld under this section shall be paid by the commissioner to the appropriate state food stamp agency.
(d) Any amount deducted and withheld under subsection (b) shall for all purposes be treated as if it were paid to the individual as unemployment benefits and paid by such individual to the state food stamp agency as repayment of the individual's uncollected overissuance.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the term ''unemployment benefits'' shall mean benefits payable under this chapter, including amounts payable by the commissioner pursuant to an agreement under any federal law providing for compensation, assistance or allowances with respect to unemployment.
(f) This section shall apply only if arrangements have been made for reimbursement by the state food stamp agency, so-called, for the administrative costs incurred by the commissioner under this section which are attributable to the repayment of uncollected overissuance to said state food stamp agency.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 30b - Payment of Additional Benefits Upon Termination of Eligibility for Benefits Pursuant to Federal Supplemental Compensation Act

Section 30B. (a) An individual whose eligibility or continued eligibility for unemployment benefits pursuant to the Federal Supplemental Compensation Act of 1982 is terminated solely because of the failure of congress to make available funds for the continued payment of federal supplemental compensation shall be eligible for additional benefits under the same terms and conditions as provided in said Federal Supplemental Compensation Act of 1982.
(b) The weekly benefit amount payable to such individual shall be the amount equal to that amount the individual would be entitled to under section 602(d) of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982.
(c) Any benefit paid to an individual under this section shall be charged to the solvency account established pursuant to section fourteen except to the extent that the Unemployment Compensation Fund is reimbursed under any act of congress for the payment of such benefit.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 31 - Benefits in a Subsequent Benefit Year

Section 31. No individual may receive benefits in a subsequent benefit year unless, since the beginning of the previous benefit year during which he received benefits, he performed service for an employer subject to this chapter and has been paid wages for such service of not less than three times his weekly benefit rate for said previous benefit year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 35 - Waiver of Rights; Agreement to Pay Contributions or Payments in Lieu of Contributions; Deduction From Wages; Enforcement

Section 35. Except as provided in the second paragraph, no agreement by an individual to waive his right to benefits or any other right under this chapter, or to pay all or any portion of the contributions or payments in lieu of contributions required hereunder from his employer, shall be valid. No employer shall make, or permit or require, any deduction from wages or salary of any employee to finance in whole or in part the contributions or payments in lieu of contributions required of the employer, or require any waiver by an employee of any right hereunder. The commissioner may make orders for the enforcement of this section, and shall cause all violations thereof and of this section to be prosecuted.
Nothing in this section shall preclude an individual from authorizing the commissioner, either directly or through an agreement entered into pursuant to Section 454(20)(B)(i) of the Social Security Act, to deduct and withhold from any unemployment compensation otherwise payable the amount of child support obligations owed by said individual. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the term ''child support obligations'' includes only obligations which are being enforced pursuant to a plan described in Section 454 of the Social Security Act which has been approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under Part D of Title IV of that Act.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 36 - Assigning, Encumbering or Releasing Benefits; Exemption From Claims of Creditors; Exception

Section 36. Benefits which are or may become due under this chapter shall not be assigned, pledged, encumbered, released, commuted or trusteed before payment; and when paid shall, as long as they are not mingled with other funds of the beneficiary, be exempt from all claims of creditors, and from levy, execution and attachment or other remedy now or hereafter provided for the recovery or collection of debt, which exemption may not be waived.
Nothing in this section shall prevent benefits payable under this chapter from being assigned, executed upon, trusteed, or otherwise attached when the purpose of such assignment or attachment is to satisfy a support order under chapter two hundred and eight, two hundred and nine, or two hundred and seventy-three or to satisfy an order to provide child support issued pursuant to legal process as defined in Section 462(e) of the Social Security Act.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 37 - Fees and Representation in Proceedings Under This Chapter; Solicitation of Business of Representing Claimant

Section 37. No fee shall be charged in any proceeding under this chapter by the commissioner or any of his agents or representatives.
In any proceeding under this chapter a party may be represented by an agent or attorney. No fees for the services rendered by such agent or attorney to an individual claiming benefits shall be allowable or payable unless the amount thereof shall have been previously approved by the commissioner, except in proceedings arising under sections forty and forty-one, when such fees shall be so approved by the board of review. Whoever exacts or receives any remuneration or gratuity for any services rendered on behalf of a benefit claimant under this chapter, except as authorized by this section, or who solicits the business of appearing on behalf of a benefit claimant or employer, or who makes it a business to solicit employment for another in connection with the making of any claim for benefits or for the purpose of opposing a claim or claims under this chapter, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 38a - Payment of Benefits Resulting From Failure of Employing Unit to Timely or Adequately Respond to Department Request for Information

Section 38A. (a) If the director, or the director's authorized representative, determines, after providing written or electronic notice to the employer, that a payment of benefits was made because the employing unit, or an agent of the employing unit, was at fault for failing to respond timely or adequately to any request of the department for information relating to the claim for benefits, then: (i) the employing unit, except for employing units making payments into the Unemployment Compensation Fund under section 14A, shall not be relieved of charges on account of any such payment of benefits; and (ii) if the employing unit makes payments into the Fund under section 14A, it shall not be relieved from reimbursing the fund on account of any such payment of benefits. For purposes of this subsection, a response shall be considered inadequate if it fails to provide sufficient facts to enable the department to make the proper determination regarding a claim for benefits. A response shall not be considered inadequate if the department fails to ask for all necessary information, except in any case where there has been a failure to respond.
(b) The director shall adopt regulations implementing this section.
(c) A determination that an employing unit, or an agent of an employing unit, is at fault for failing to timely or adequately respond to a request of the department relating to a claim for benefits may be appealed under sections 39 to 42, inclusive, but the remedy shall not be subject to appeal.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 42 - Judicial Review; Procedures; Appeals; Rules

Section 42. The commissioner or any interested person aggrieved by any decision in any proceeding before the board of review may obtain judicial review of such decision by commencing within thirty days of the date of mailing of such decision, a civil action in the district court within the judicial district in which he lives, or is or was last employed, or has his usual place of business, and in such proceeding, every other party to the proceeding before the board shall be made a defendant. If an appeal to the board of review is deemed denied pursuant to subsection (a) of section forty-one because the board failed to act upon such appeal, judicial review may be obtained by commencing a civil action as prescribed in the preceding sentence, except that the time for commencing such action shall run from the date such appeal is deemed denied. The commissioner shall be deemed to have been a party to any such proceeding before the board. The complaint shall state the grounds upon which such review is sought. The plaintiff shall serve a copy of the complaint upon each defendant by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, within seven days after commencing the action for judicial review.
The commissioner shall make every reasonable effort to file with the court a certified copy of the decision of the board of review, including all documents and a transcript of all testimony taken at the hearing before said board or the commissioner as the case may be, within twenty-eight days after service of the complaint upon the commissioner or within twenty-eight days after the commencement of the action for judicial review by the commissioner. Each defendant shall file an answer within twenty-eight days after receipt of the complaint, except that the commissioner may, by way of answer, file in court within such time period a certified copy of the record of the proceeding under review.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, or if inconsistent with the provisions of this section, such proceeding shall be governed by the Rules of Civil Procedure for the district courts and the municipal court of the city of Boston. The findings and decisions of the board shall be reviewed in accordance with the standards for review provided in paragraph (7) of section fourteen of chapter thirty A. Any proceeding under this section shall be given precedence over all other civil cases.
An appeal may be taken from the decision of the justice of the district court directly to the appeals court. Notice of appeal shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the district court within thirty days after entry of the judgment by the clerk. The completion of such appeal shall be made in accordance with the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure. Benefits shall be paid or denied in accordance with the decision of the trial court justice during the pendency of such appeal.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 42b - Modification or Reversal of Decision; Recovery of Payments

Section 42B. If any determination under section thirty-nine, or any decision under section thirty-nine, forty-one or forty-two, is finally modified or reversed, any benefits which have been paid but to which the claimant was not entitled under such final decision shall be deemed to be erroneous payments recoverable under section sixty-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 43 - Administering Oaths; Depositions; Certifications; Witnesses; Production of Evidence; Contempt; Self-Incrimination

Section 43. In the discharge of the duties prescribed by this chapter, the commissioner and the members of the board of review and of the state advisory council, or the duly authorized representative of any of them, shall have the power to administer oaths, take depositions, certify to official acts, and require by summons the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers, documents and records. Witnesses so summoned shall be paid for attendance and travel the same fees as witnesses in civil actions before the courts. Such fees shall be paid from the employment security administration account. In case of refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any person under authority of this chapter, any court of the commonwealth, within the jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on or the person so refusing to obey is found or resides or transacts business, may, upon application by the commissioner or his duly authorized representative or the board of review, issue to such person an order requiring him to appear before the commissioner, or his duly authorized representative or the board of review, as the case may be, to produce evidence if so ordered or to give testimony touching the matter under investigation or in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by said court as a contempt thereof. No person shall be excused from giving testimony, or from producing any book, record, document or other paper, pertinent to the matter in question, in any investigation or inquiry by, or upon any hearing before, the commissioner or the board of review or the duly authorized representative of the commissioner or said board, when ordered to do so by the commissioner, or said board, or such representative, respectively, upon the ground that the testimony or the book, record, document or other paper required of him may tend to incriminate him or subject him to a penalty or forfeiture; but no person shall be prosecuted, punished or subject to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any act, transaction, matter or thing concerning which, after claiming his privilege, he shall by order have testified or produced documentary evidence, except for perjury committed in giving such testimony or forgery committed by him in such documentary evidence.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 44 - Accounts for Employers; Records for Employees; Disposition of Papers; Summaries; Reproductions

Section 44. (a) The commissioner shall maintain a separate account for each employer, crediting his account with all the contributions which he has paid during each year.
(b) The commissioner shall maintain suitable records for each employee on which may be recorded that part of his quarterly wages subject to contributions and such other pertinent information as the commissioner may prescribe.
(c) The commissioner may destroy or dispose of any records, reports, claims, or other papers which, in his opinion, are no longer of any value to the department, and he may make such summaries or compilations, photographs, duplications or reproductions of any such records, reports, claims or other papers, which he deems advisable to preserve the information contained therein and such summaries, compilations, photographs, duplications or reproductions shall be admissible in evidence in any proceeding in any court of the commonwealth if the original would have been admissible therein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 45 - Records and Reports of Employing Units; Verification

Section 45. Every employing unit shall keep true and accurate records of all individuals employed by him and such other information as the commissioner deems necessary for the effective administration of this chapter. Such records shall be open to inspection by the commissioner or his authorized representatives at any reasonable time. The commissioner may require from any such employing unit such reports on wages, hours, employment, unemployment and related matters concerning his employees as the commissioner deems necessary for the effective administration of this chapter, and every such employing unit shall fully, correctly and promptly furnish to the commissioner all information required by him to carry out the purposes and provisions of this chapter. The commissioner may require that such information be verified under oath, which may be administered by the commissioner, or any person thereto authorized by him.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 47a - Utterance or Delivery of Insufficient Funds Check With Intent to Defraud; Punishment

Section 47A. Whoever, with intent to defraud, makes, draws, utters or delivers any check, draft or order for the payment of any amount required under this chapter upon any bank or other depository, with knowledge that the maker or drawer has not sufficient funds or credit at such bank or other depository for the payment of such instrument, although no express representation is made in reference thereto, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than five thousand dollars, or imprisonment for not more than two years, or both such fine and imprisonment. As against the maker or drawer thereof, the making, drawing, uttering or delivery of such check, draft or order, payment of which is refused by the drawee, shall be prima facie evidence of intent to defraud and of knowledge of insufficient funds in, or credit with, such bank or other depository, unless the maker or drawer shall have paid the holder thereof the amount due thereof, together with all costs and protest fees, within two days after receiving notice that such check, draft or order has not been paid by the drawee. The word ''credit'' as used herein, shall be construed to mean an arrangement or understanding with the bank or depository for the payment of such check, draft or order.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 48 - Unemployment Compensation Fund; Establishment; Composition; Benefits Payable From Pooled Money

Section 48. There is hereby established, separate and apart from all public moneys or funds of the commonwealth, an Unemployment Compensation Fund, which shall be administered by the commissioner without liability on the part of the commonwealth beyond the amounts credited to and earned by the fund.
This fund shall consist of all contributions and moneys paid into the state treasury and credited to the fund as provided in this chapter; all property and securities acquired by and through the use of moneys belonging to the fund and all interest thereon, less payments therefrom under this chapter, and excepting refunds made pursuant to the provisions of section eighteen of sums erroneously paid into the fund, and refunds of contributions made in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of section six.
All moneys in the fund shall be pooled and available to pay benefits under this chapter irrespective of the source of such moneys.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 50 - Treasurer of Unemployment Compensation Fund; Clearing Account; Fund Account; Deposit With United States Secretary of the Treasury

Section 50. (a) The state treasurer shall be, ex officio, the treasurer of the Unemployment Compensation Fund.
He shall maintain within the Unemployment Compensation Fund two separate accounts as follows:—
(1) A clearing account in which the commissioner, immediately upon their receipt, shall deposit all moneys payable to the fund.
(2) An unemployment compensation fund account.
(b) All money in the clearing account after clearance thereof, and excepting payment of refunds as provided in sections eighteen and forty-eight, shall be deposited by the state treasurer immediately with the secretary of the treasury of the United States of America to the credit of the account of the commonwealth in the Unemployment Trust Fund, established and maintained pursuant to section nine hundred and four of the Social Security Act, as amended, any provisions of the general laws relating to the deposit, administration, release or disbursement of moneys in the possession or custody of the commonwealth to the contrary notwithstanding.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151a - Unemployment Insurance › Section 51 - Requisition From Trust Fund; Transfer to Commissioner

Section 51. The state treasurer shall from time to time requisition from said Unemployment Trust Fund such amounts, not exceeding the amounts standing to the commonwealth's account therein, as the commissioner deems necessary for the payment of benefits for a reasonable future period, and transfer such moneys to the commissioner.