Solicitation by Non-commercial Legal Training Programs

The Division interprets the anti-solicitation provision of the last sentence of M.G.L. c. 151A, § 37 (and in particular its element of "business"), not to prohibit solicitation which is devoid of any commercial or commercially-motivated element. Non-profit, non- commercial entities, which seek to further the objectives of the employment security law by providing assistance to unemployed workers in representing them at Division hearings, and which charge no fee for their services (or which request, but do not require, a nominal gratuity, pursuant to Division authorization under M.G.L. c. 151A, § 37), and their representatives are not, in the Division's view, prohibited by M.G.L. c. 151A, § 37 from soliciting claimants for unemployment benefits for purposes of representing said claimants at such hearings and advocating for unemployment insurance benefits at such hearings. Any such solicitation is subject to reasonable restrictions of time, place and manner, e.g. 430 CMR 4.08, to protect the rights of those unemployed persons being solicited and to assure that the smooth functioning of the business of the Division and the orderly administration of the employment security Law are not impaired.