How do you get paid medical leave or disability benefits in Massachusetts?

Paid Family and Medical Leave is the Commonwealth's own program and covers a serious health condition of your own, while Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income are federal programs for people with a disability. None of them is run by DUA, and an unemployment claim does not turn into any of them.

What paid medical leave covers and pays

Medical leave is the side of the program for your own health. A serious health condition means a physical or mental condition that stops you doing your job for more than 3 consecutive days and needs one of these: an overnight stay in a medical facility, 2 or more treatments by a health care provider within 30 days of whatever stopped you working, or at least 1 treatment in that 30 days with plans for continued treatment, including prescriptions.

Eligibility turns on your earnings rather than on how long you have been with an employer, and wages from a previous employer can count as long as both employers take part in the program. The money comes from employer and employee contributions. The program is separate from the federal Family and Medical Leave Act and from any paid leave your employer already offers.

Family and medical leave together are capped at 26 weeks in a benefit year, whatever the mix. Payments start after an unpaid waiting period of 7 calendar days, and those 7 days count against the leave you have for the year.

How to apply for paid leave

Tell your employer first, with at least 30 days notice where circumstances allow it, and as soon as possible where they do not. You can apply from 60 days before the leave would start.

1. Create an account at paidleave.mass.gov and apply online, or call the Contact Center on (833) 344-7365, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you are unemployed, you have to call to get started.
2. Within 5 days of your application, the Department of Family and Medical Leave notifies your employer, who then has 10 business days to review it and add anything that helps the decision.
3. If you disagree with the decision, you have 10 days to appeal it.

The Department of Family and Medical Leave decides a paid leave application, not DUA. Its Contact Center answers in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and interpretation is available for 240 or more languages.

Paid leave beside an unemployment claim

Losing the job does not close the door on paid leave. If you contributed to the program at a previous position, you may still be eligible, so long as you have not been unemployed for more than 26 weeks and you meet the earnings requirements.

Holding both at once is possible, and the paid leave payment is the one that gets cut.

If illness stops you looking for work

Unemployment law asks you to be capable of work, available for work, and actively seeking work in your usual occupation or any other occupation you are reasonably fitted for. An illness or disability that begins after you have filed your claim and registered for work does not count against that test, as long as no work that would have been suitable was offered to you after you became ill. The exception covers 3 weeks within a benefit year.

Who qualifies in Massachusetts has the rest of the test, and your weekly claim covers what you certify each week.

Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income

Which one fits you turns on your age, your work credits, and whether you are working.

• Social Security Disability Insurance is for someone aged 18 to 65 with a disability who is employed, has earned the required hourly-based work credits, and has Social Security coverage.
• Supplemental Security Income is for someone 65 or older, or with a disability, who is unemployed or employed without the required work credits.

A claim can be filed with the Social Security Administration by phone on 1-800-772-1213, or on TTY 1-800-325-0778. The state's own guide, Apply for SSDI or SSI benefits, carries the routes for applying online and at a local Social Security office.

MassAbility Disability Determination Services evaluates a Social Security claim once it is filed, using in-house medical and mental-health professionals alongside consultants from across Massachusetts. You can speed a determination up by sending your Social Security number, medical records with contact details for each provider, a list of the medications you take, and the names of your employers and job titles for the last 15 years. Do not wait for a missing piece before filing.

MassAbility itself answers on (617) 204-3600, and on (800) 245-6543 for Voice and TDD callers.

Drawing Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Income does not rule paid leave out. You may still be eligible, but you have to report that income when you apply, and it may reduce your paid leave benefit.

Career help when a disability is in the way

MassAbility Career Services is for someone who lives in Massachusetts, is eligible to work in the United States, has a physical or mental disability that prevents them finding employment, and would benefit from the services.

The support carries on into the job itself for the first 90 days of employment, and longer for some. MassAbility Connect answers on 617-204-3665, and its office is at 40 Broad Street, Fourth floor, Boston, MA 02109. MassAbility Career Services is where to start.