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Rep. Gordon files bill to change unemployment formula for workers with fluctuating schedules
Summary
Representative Kenneth I. Gordon filed House Bill No. 2111 on Jan. 10, 2025, proposing an amendment to Section 1 of chapter 151A to alter how unemployment benefits are calculated for workers with fluctuating work schedules, including a fallback calculation if "deeming" would render a claimant ineligible.
Representative Kenneth I. Gordon filed House Bill No. 2111 on Jan. 10, 2025, proposing to amend Massachusetts' unemployment insurance law to change how benefits are calculated for workers with fluctuating work schedules.
The bill would amend Section 1 of chapter 151A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, by striking the phrase "reported for the highest quarter" and inserting language that if "such deeming renders the individual ineligible for unemployment benefits, the amount shall be one twenty-sixth of the total wages reported in the two quarters." The filing lists Gordon (21st Middlesex) as the petitioner and was submitted to the House and referred to the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development.
The change targets the statutory language used to "deem" wages when calculating a claimant's benefit amount. Under the bill text, if deeming a worker's wages to a single quarter would make that worker ineligible for benefits, the fallback calculation would set the relevant amount at one twenty-sixth of the total wages reported in the two quarters cited in the statute. The text in the filing references the 2022 Official Edition of the General Laws as the edition being amended.
This filing is a legislative petition and not an enacted law. The next step is committee consideration; no committee hearing, vote, or enactment is recorded in the filing. If the committee reports the bill, it would then proceed through the legislative process in the House and, if passed there, to the Senate and governor for signature.
