Legal Questions & Answers

Court Ruling Illustrates the Dangers Presented by a Poorly Drafted Employment Manual

In a case that illustrates the dangers employers face from poorly drafted employment manuals and from manuals that give a too many rights to their employees, a U.S. District Court … more →

Massachusetts Family and Medical Leave Regulations Impose New Paperwork and Contribution Burdens on Employers

With implementation of a tax under the recently enacted Massachusetts Family and Medical Leave Act less than five months away, the newly formed Department of Family and Medical Leave has … more →

Massachusetts Should Enforce Noncompetition Agreements only in Local Courts

While it made progress last year on noncompetition issues, the Massachusetts Legislature didn’t get the job done in several areas. Shortcomings and a lack of clarity mean problems that plagued … more →

Pregnant Workers will Enjoy Broad New Job Protections under Recently Signed Massachusetts Law

Massachusetts recently took another step to protect members of its workforce. Late in July, Gov. Charlie Baker signed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which provides broad new rules for pregnant … more →

Employees may be Free to Speak their Minds, but Employers are Free to React

Free speech is not always free. That seemingly obvious point was apparently lost on Google employee James Damore, a man making headlines recently after he was fired for writing a … more →

Noncompetition Agreement Legislation Appears No Closer to Passage in Massachusetts

The effort to regulate the use of noncompetition agreements continues to languish in a legislative committee, where most of several competing proposals were referred early in 2017. Alongside them – … more →

U.S. Supreme Court Delays Hearing on Cases that may Decide whether Class Action Rights can be Waived

The U.S. Supreme Court may have accepted a group of cases that will determine whether companies can require their workers to waive class action rights, but that doesn’t mean it’ll … more →

Legislator will Try Again to Impose Liability on Companies for Wage Violations by Entities they Contract With

After failing to pass what’s referred to as a wage theft bill in the recently ended legislative session, the bill’s sponsor is not giving up. According to published reports, Sen. … more →

Senate Action on Noncompetition Bill May Lead to its Failure in MA Legislature

The Massachusetts Senate recently followed the lead of the House of Representatives by passing a comprehensive bill to regulate noncompetition agreements. While this seems to be progress toward a final … more →

Massachusetts House Passes Noncompetition Bill with Substantial Limits — Unanimously

The Massachusetts House of Representatives recently passed a bill that imposes rules for noncompetition agreements. While the bill has yet to become law – it is now being considered by … more →