Massachusetts Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Application

Massachusetts Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Application

Massachusetts Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provides up to 39 weeks of unemployment benefits to individuals who are unable to work because of a COVID-19-related reason but are not eligible for regular or extended unemployment benefits.

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provides payment to workers not traditionally eligible for unemployment benefits (self-employed, independent contractors, workers with limited work history, and others) who are unable to work as a direct result of the coronavirus public health emergency.

Applicants will need to provide the following information:

• Your social security number
• If you are not a citizen of the United States, your A Number (USCIS Number)
• Your residential address
• Your mailing address (if different from residential address)
• Your telephone number
• Your email address
• Your birth date
• Your wage records for 2019, which includes:
  • 1099 forms
  • Pay stubs
  • Bank statements
• The social security number(s) and date(s) of birth for your dependent child(ren)
• If you want to use direct deposit for payment, your bank account and routing numbers.

BENEFITS

All accepted applications will initially receive the minimum weekly benefit amount, plus an additional $600 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) weekly benefit. Once a worker’s wages are verified, weekly benefit amounts may increase. Weekly benefits, including any increase to your weekly benefit amount, will be retroactive to January 27, 2020, or the date when you became unemployed, whichever is more recent, as long as you became unable to work because of a COVID-19 related reason.

Please note that, initially, the system can only pay benefits retroactively to the week ending March 14, 2020. Eligible workers will be able to certify for and to request benefits retroactively to January 27, 2020 if their dates of unemployment make them eligible.