Work & The Law

Workers Compensation Insurance for Independent Contractors and their Employers

Massachusetts requires every employer in the commonwealth with one or more employees to have a valid worker’s compensation policy at all times. This type of no fault insurance protects employees by providing medical care and partial wage reimbursement. Employers need not have a valid worker’s compensation policy for work done by an independent contractor as they fall outside the definition

Read More »

Supreme Court Rules Against Employee Compensation For Security Screens

Workers at Amazon warehouses may face up to 25-minute security screenings aimed at preventing theft. The workers sued their employer seeking compensation for the time spent waiting to go through the security screening at the end of each day. The issue before the Supreme Court was whether such time is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law

Read More »

Keeping Overtime Pay in Compliance with the Prevailing Wage Law

Employers often create complicated payroll formulas to calculate overtime pay for employees who work under public work contracts to comply with Massachusetts’ prevailing wage law. The prevailing wage law (M.G.L. c. 149, § 26-27) governs public works contracts in Massachusetts and mandates a wage rate established by the director of the Massachusetts Department of Labor, the “prevailing wage,” which must

Read More »

Massachusetts Law Regarding Unpaid Interns

Employers who hire unpaid interns face heavy scrutiny under Massachusetts wage and hour laws. Massachusetts employers must pay their interns state minimum wages unless the employer can demonstrate that their unpaid intern is exempt under both the state’s criteria, and the six part test used by the United States Department of Labor under federal law.

Read More »

Mandatory Treble Damages in Wage Act Claims

A 2008 Amendment to the Massachusetts Wage Act simplified the award of treble damages in wage act violation cases. The amendment takes discretion away from the court and makes treble damages a mandatory award. “An employee so aggrieved who prevails in such an action shall be awarded treble damages, as liquidated damages, for any lost wages and other benefits and

Read More »

Massachusetts Minimum Wage Rate

$9.00. As of January 1st 2015, this will be the new minimum wage in the State of Massachusetts. The commonwealth has instituted an aggressive minimum wage initiative to raise the minimum wage $1.00 each year to ultimately reach $11.00 an hour as of January 1st 2017.

Read More »

Unemployment Benefits and Voluntary Resignation

Unemployment benefits are typically reserved for employees who involuntarily leave work. A specific exception is made for employees who leave work voluntarily if the employee “establishes by substantial and credible evidence that he had good cause for leaving attributable to the employer.”

Read More »

Seeking Reinstatement Under the Mass Wage Act

The Massachusetts Wage Act affords aggrieved employees the ability to sue their employers and recover for an employer’s failure to pay wages to which the employee was entitled. The Supreme Judicial Court recently address the issue of whether an employee may also seek reinstatement under the Wage Act.

Read More »

Who is a Manager? As a Wait Staff Employee, Are You Missing Out on Tips?

Here is another installment to help employees recognize whether they are receiving all of their hard earned tips. Under Massachusetts law, only three classes of employees are eligible to receive and share tips: 1) wait staff; 2) service employees; and 3) service bartenders. Massachusetts’ courts are largely concerned about the actual work preformed by an employee as opposed to the

Read More »

Workers Compensation Insurance for Independent Contractors and their Employers

Massachusetts requires every employer in the commonwealth with one or more employees to have a valid worker’s compensation policy at all times. This type of no fault insurance protects employees by providing medical care and partial wage reimbursement. Employers need not have a valid worker’s compensation policy for work done by an independent contractor as they fall outside the definition

Read More »

Supreme Court Rules Against Employee Compensation For Security Screens

Workers at Amazon warehouses may face up to 25-minute security screenings aimed at preventing theft. The workers sued their employer seeking compensation for the time spent waiting to go through the security screening at the end of each day. The issue before the Supreme Court was whether such time is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law

Read More »

Keeping Overtime Pay in Compliance with the Prevailing Wage Law

Employers often create complicated payroll formulas to calculate overtime pay for employees who work under public work contracts to comply with Massachusetts’ prevailing wage law. The prevailing wage law (M.G.L. c. 149, § 26-27) governs public works contracts in Massachusetts and mandates a wage rate established by the director of the Massachusetts Department of Labor, the “prevailing wage,” which must

Read More »

Massachusetts Law Regarding Unpaid Interns

Employers who hire unpaid interns face heavy scrutiny under Massachusetts wage and hour laws. Massachusetts employers must pay their interns state minimum wages unless the employer can demonstrate that their unpaid intern is exempt under both the state’s criteria, and the six part test used by the United States Department of Labor under federal law.

Read More »

Mandatory Treble Damages in Wage Act Claims

A 2008 Amendment to the Massachusetts Wage Act simplified the award of treble damages in wage act violation cases. The amendment takes discretion away from the court and makes treble damages a mandatory award. “An employee so aggrieved who prevails in such an action shall be awarded treble damages, as liquidated damages, for any lost wages and other benefits and

Read More »

Massachusetts Minimum Wage Rate

$9.00. As of January 1st 2015, this will be the new minimum wage in the State of Massachusetts. The commonwealth has instituted an aggressive minimum wage initiative to raise the minimum wage $1.00 each year to ultimately reach $11.00 an hour as of January 1st 2017.

Read More »

Unemployment Benefits and Voluntary Resignation

Unemployment benefits are typically reserved for employees who involuntarily leave work. A specific exception is made for employees who leave work voluntarily if the employee “establishes by substantial and credible evidence that he had good cause for leaving attributable to the employer.”

Read More »

Seeking Reinstatement Under the Mass Wage Act

The Massachusetts Wage Act affords aggrieved employees the ability to sue their employers and recover for an employer’s failure to pay wages to which the employee was entitled. The Supreme Judicial Court recently address the issue of whether an employee may also seek reinstatement under the Wage Act.

Read More »

Who is a Manager? As a Wait Staff Employee, Are You Missing Out on Tips?

Here is another installment to help employees recognize whether they are receiving all of their hard earned tips. Under Massachusetts law, only three classes of employees are eligible to receive and share tips: 1) wait staff; 2) service employees; and 3) service bartenders. Massachusetts’ courts are largely concerned about the actual work preformed by an employee as opposed to the

Read More »