What is the Role of the Department of Unemployment Assistance?

The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is a department within the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.  G.L. c. 23, §1. DUA administers the Commonwealth’s unemployment insurance (UI) program. The acting DUA Director is Katie Dishnica and DUA's acting Chief Counsel is David Gold.. DUA performs a wide range of unemployment related functions, including:

• determining and collecting employer contributions;
• processing claims for UI;
• establishing eligibility for UI;
• job search, retraining and other reemployment services; and
• collecting employer contributions under the Massachusetts healthcare law.

DUA's administrative costs are funded by the residual amount of federal taxes—after receiving a credit for their state contribution—that employers pay directly to the federal government.