Wages and Commissions

Lawsuits under the Revised Equal Pay Act are Out of the Gate Quickly

Well, that didn’t take long. On the first business day that amendments to the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act were in effect, the first lawsuit was filed in Boston, according to … more →

Foreseeing Likely Outcomes on 3 Ballot Questions, Massachusetts Legislators Pass Law to Increase Minimum Wage, Grant Family and Medical Leave to Employees, and Require an Annual Sales Tax Holiday

They’re calling it a “grand bargain,” but the deal recently reached among legislators, activist groups, businesses and Gov. Charlie Baker is probably more of grand concession than anything else. Seeing … more →

Massachusetts Attorney General Issues Guidance to Help Employers Prepare for the Equal Pay Act

With just four months until a revised Massachusetts Equal Pay Act takes effect and unleashes what is likely to be a wave of pay discrimination lawsuits, the state’s Attorney General … more →

Massachusetts High Court Clarifies that Sick Leave is not Wages

Though most employment lawyers never thought of accrued sick leave benefits as a wage, it took only one, armed with a big enough sick leave balance, to test the question … more →

Hiking of Minimum Wage to $15/Hour Makes its Way toward the Ballot Box for November 2018

Dissatisfied with the recent increase of the Massachusetts minimum wage to $11/hour and its failed efforts to get the state legislature to move the hourly rate to $15, a coalition … more →

2018 Ballot Question Proposes up to 26 Weeks of Paid Family and Medical Leave to Massachusetts Employees

If a coalition group called Raise Up Massachusetts gets its way, the Commonwealth will soon have a comprehensive new law that provides paid leave to employees for a variety of … more →

Employers Get Another Reason to Carefully Review and Comply with Wage Laws

It’s no surprise that the reach of Massachusetts’ wage laws is long, and most employers know they need to carefully abide them if they want to avoid potentially dire effects. … more →

Supreme Judicial Court Rules that Employees get Interest on Unpaid Wages but not Statutory Penalties

The Supreme Judicial Court this week issued its latest interpretation of the Massachusetts Wage Act, Mass. Gen. L. ch. 150, §§148-150. It ruled that prejudgment interest on unpaid wages and … 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 →

Minimum Wage Now at $11 Per Hour

Effective January 1, 2017, the minimum wage for Massachusetts workers rose from $10 to $11 per hour. The new rate applies to almost all employees. For employees who regularly receive … more →