Collecting Unemployment Benefits in Massachusetts After Voluntary Resignation
Can I Collect Unemployment After Quitting My Job?The prospect of quitting your job can be daunting, and it often raises questions about your financial stability. One common query that arises is whether you can collect unemployment benefits after voluntarily resigning from your job. In this guide, we will explore the factors that determine your eligibility for unemployment benefits following a voluntary resignation.
Understanding Unemployment BenefitsUnemployment benefits are designed to provide financial support to individuals who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Generally, these benefits are available to those who have been laid off or terminated by their employers. This means that the general rule is also that benefits are not available to people who leave their jobs voluntarily.
Good Cause for Resignation in MassachusettsUnder Massachusetts law, you may be eligible to collect unemployment benefits if you're compelled to resign due to compelling or urgent reasons attributable to your employer. Valid reasons for resignation include pervasive workplace harassment, other unlawful or intolerable conduct, or health reasons for you or your family that your employer cannot or will not accommodate.
Resignation Due to Hostile Work Environment or HarassmentThe state's unemployment statute explicitly addresses resignations caused by sexual, racial, or other unreasonable harassment. To qualify for this exception, you must demonstrate that your employer, including supervisors or other agents, knew about or should have known about the harassment.
If the harassment is sexual or racial and your employer was aware of it, you don't need to take further steps for your resignation to be considered involuntary. However, reporting the harassment to your employer is advisable, as it underscores their awareness. For harassment that isn't legally actionable (e.g., workplace bullying), you must notify your employer and can collect unemployment if they fail to take appropriate remedial action, leading to your resignation. Resignation in Lieu of TerminationRegardless of its formal name, a separation imposed by the employer is not considered a resignation for unemployment purposes. This means that if you're given the choice between resigning and being fired, it's still an involuntary separation, even if you technically resign.
This also holds if you had a reasonable belief that termination was imminent when you resigned. For example, in cases where the employer offers a choice between a layoff with severance and remaining at work, "accepting" the layoff doesn't make your separation voluntary for unemployment purposes, as it was the employer's decision, not yours, to reduce staff. Resignation for Family or Medical ReasonsLeaving your job for "urgent, compelling, and necessitous circumstances" related to family or medical reasons can make you eligible for unemployment benefits in Massachusetts. However, there are key considerations:
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Emily Smith-Lee is the owner and founder of slnlaw. She is a 1996 graduate of Boston College Law School. She was previously a partner at the Boston office of a large international firm, where she worked for thirteen years before starting the firm that became slnlaw in 2009. She has been recognized as Massachusetts Superlawyer each year since 2013, and in 2018 earned recognition as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's Lawyers of the Year. She has written a book on employment law: Rules of the Road, What You Need to Know About Employment Laws in Massachusetts, and helped thousands of clients on both the employee and employer side with severance and non compete review and negotiation, wage and hour, discrimination and retaliation disputes, workplace sexual harassment situations, and advice about employment law generally.
Rebecca Rogers: Rebecca is a 2006 graduate of Boston College Law School, and has worked with slnlaw since 2013. She previously worked as an intellectual property litigation attorney for Fish & Richardson in Boston, Massachusetts, and clerked for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Rebecca has helped clients with wage and hour disputes, employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims, review and negotiation of severance and non compete agreements, and advice to both employees and employers about navigating complex employment situations.
Jenna Ordway: Jenna is a 2013 graduate of Quinnipiac Law School, and also earned an LLM in Taxation from Boston University in 2015. She has been affiliated with slnlaw since 2011, first as a law clerk and then as an attorney. Jenna has been recognized since 2019 as a "Rising Star" by Massachusetts Superlawyers. Jenna has helped clients with review and negotiation of severance and non compete agreements, wage and hour disputes, discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims, and advice to small business owners about employment law and other business matters.
Elijah Bresley: Eli is a 2014 graduate of Seton Hall Law school, and has worked with slnlaw since 2020. He previously worked for a boutique employment law firm outside of Boston, and then for the Labor and Employment department of a large Boston firm. He also spent a year clerking for the judges of the Superior Court in Hartford, Connecticut. Eli has helped clients on the employee and employer side with all varieties of employment law issues, including employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage and hour issues, litigation in MCAD and state and federal courts, and advising employers about employment policies and practices.
Sharleen Tinnin: Sharleen is a 2010 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, and has been with slnlaw since 2023. Prior to joining slnlaw, she worked with King, Tilden, McEttrick & Brink, P.C. on complex civil litigation matters. She previously worked for the United States Department of Justice, and received an "Excellence in Justice" award in 2017. Sharleen has helped clients with wage and hour, discrimination, harassment and retaliation disputes, review and negotiation of severance agreements, and litigation in MCAD and state and federal courts on employment issues.
How We Can Help
Our experienced Massachusetts employment attorneys are here to provide expert guidance on navigating unemployment benefits after quitting your job. We can assess your situation, help you understand 'good cause' criteria, and ensure your rights are protected. You can use the button below to schedule a call back from a member of our team, or give us a call at 781-784-2322.
