Unemployment insurance eligibility: federal employees

Guidance and information about eligibility for federal government employees recently separated from employment.

If you are a federal employee who has been recently separated from your employment, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits. You should file your claim as soon as possible after your last day of work. 

If you are not a federal government employee, please visit our general eligibility page.

Who is eligible

To be eligible for unemployment benefits in Massachusetts, you must:

• Have earned at least $6,300 from all employment, including out of state employment, during the last 4 completed calendar quarters
• Earn at least 30 times your weekly benefit amount

To qualify for benefits each week, you must be physically able to work, available to work, and conduct three (3) or more work search activities per week. You may also be required to register with a MassHire Career Center to complete mandatory work search seminars to remain eligible. 

Please note: You are not eligible for benefits for any period of time that you are outside of the United States, its territories, or Canada. Learn more about what could affect your weekly benefit amount. 

For more information, refer to the DUA guidebook, What to do if you’ve Become Unemployed in Massachusetts. 

To find financial help or other assistance, visit Mass 211 online  or call 211 to be connected to local health and human services. 

Applying for unemployment benefits

When applying for unemployment benefits as a federal employee:

• Select "Lack of Work" if your position was eliminated due to a reorganization.
• Select "Discharge – Job Performance" if your dismissal notice cites performance as the reason for separation.

Under Massachusetts law, poor job performance alone does not automatically disqualify someone from benefits.

Do not upload documents online in Unemployment Services for Workers. After you have applied, please go to this secure online form to upload your documents. Complete all form fields to ensure we can tie these records to your unemployment claim.

Documentation includes any pay information and/or forms you may have received from your employer. This information includes:

• Your 2024 W-2 form
• All available pay stubs you have received from your employer in the past 15 months
• SF-50 and SF-8 forms

We recognize that you may not have all this information, but please provide any and all information you may have that will help us to expedite your claim.  

When filling out the secure online form, you will be presented with two options:

• Option 1: Restore Unemployment Insurance Account Access: Complete this form if you never filed an unemployment claim or received UI benefits previously, but received notification when trying to file your claim that a claim was filed using your information.
• Option 2: Upload Federal Employee Supporting Documents: Fill out this form ONLY if you have successfully filed a claim and are ready to upload your documents. 

Unemployment Services for Workers will generate a document titled "Claimant's Statement of Federal Civilian Service, Wages, and Reason for Separation" after you file your claim. You do not need to complete this form if you have already submitted the required pay information through the secure online form.

Apply for unemployment benefits  Upload federal employee documents 

After filing your claim

Once you apply for unemployment benefits, you should request benefits for each week you are out of work. Benefits can be requested each week Sunday through Saturday between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. (EST) by logging into your Unemployment Services for Workers account or by calling DUA Telecert at [phone].