Additional  Information:

During a recent job interview, I was asked if I was ever convicted of a felony.   I felt I had to answer the question so I answered honestly, “yes” for something that happened over 10 years ago.   I thought it was against the law in MA for employers to ask this?   Is there anything I can do at this point?

ATTORNEY ANSWER:

Although the law governing criminal record information was amended in 2010 to provide more protections to job applicants, the changes do not appear to reach your situation. Under the revised Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) law, employers generally cannot ask for criminal histories on a written job application that is completed prior to a job interview. The new law does not expressly reach questions at the interview stage, however, and historical information regarding felony convictions has traditionally been permissible regardless of age. While this is not true in the case of misdemeanor convictions such as drunkenness, disturbing the peace, or speeding, you unfortunately have a felony history and do not appear to be protected by law.  [Read more...]

Additional Information:

I’m been unemployed for 6 months and have been applying for jobs and interviewing but have received no job offers.  Then I got to wondering what my former employer can say about me in a reference?  Does MA law restrict employers from only providing info like dates worked and title and job responsibilities?  Can my former employer say negative things about me that would keep me from getting another job?

ATTORNEY ANSWER:

Unfortunately, the law in Massachusetts does not expressly protect you from a bad job reference. Your former employer is free to say what it wants about your work performance with few restrictions. Although you might be able to pursue damages for a patently false reference that causes you to lose out on a job, doing so will not be easy. You would probably need to proceed under legal standards that generally bar people from defaming — also known as libeling or slandering — another person by the publication of false information. This type of case, however, is very difficult to prove, particularly in the employment context. For starters, you would need to show both that any statements made by your former employer were factual as distinct from mere opinions, which are protected by law and normally cannot be acted upon. You’d then have to prove the statements were false, were made to a prospective employer who would otherwise have hired you, and caused you to lose out on a job opportunity. If you succeeded in all this, your damages could be measured by the amount you lost from missing the job opportunity. These damages, however, need to be mitigated; that is, you need to continue trying to find work in a diligent fashion and, once you do, any amount you make will be deducted from the damages you’d otherwise be entitled to. Given all this and the heavy expenses normally associated with litigation, suits for defamation in this area rarely make much sense.  [Read more...]

Additional Information:

I’m coming up on my 5 year anniversary with a Worcester MA company.  I will be giving my 2 weeks notice around the time of my 5 year anniversary.  At the 5 year point we bump up to 4 weeks of vacation. Would I still be able to collect the pay out for the unused vacation time if my notice is in but my last day falls after the anniversary date?

ATTORNEY ANSWER:

Under Massachusetts law, vacation time that is accrued but not used at the time an employee leaves the job must be paid out as wages. The trick is figuring out what’s accrued and what’s not, a matter that generally is governed by an employer’s internal policies.

The key statute in this area is the state’s Wage Act, which requires employers to pay workers all money they earn within narrow time frames. Violations of the Act can bring heavy penalties that include the potential for criminal sanctions. More commonly, the failure to pay wages as required by the law results in a civil suit by a disgruntled former employee. The Wage Act provides that successful plaintiffs in cases like these be awarded triple the amount improperly withheld from them plust reimbursement for all legal fees they expend. When a company grants vacation time — a matter solely within the discretion of the employer — it must honor its policies and, when a worker leaves for any reason, pay out as wages the accrued but unused time showing on its books. This rule prevails because vacation time is, under these particular circumstances, considered wages under the law.
[Read more...]