As detailed in a prior post, since the end of May 2021, employers have been required to make paid leave time available to Massachusetts employees for COVID-19 related illnesses, quarantines and vaccinations. The state also established a fund to reimburse employers under certain circumstances. The law initially expired as of September 30, 2021 or when the funds ran out. As of September 29, 2021, the law has been amended to extend the duration of the program until April 1, 2022 (or until the funds run out), and to expand the reasons employees may take leave under the law. All of the original re ..read more

On May 28, 2021, Governor Baker signed legislation providing every full-time employee up to 40 hours of job-protected, emergency paid sick leave (pro-rated for part-time employees) for certain COVID-19 related reasons, including to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine or to recover from symptoms arising from the vaccine. The law also creates a fund to reimburse eligible employers for providing their employees with this paid leave, unless they are eligible to receive tax credits from the federal government. The state mandate continues until September 30, 2021, or until the fund is exhausted. Eligible R ..read more

As of January 2021, many workers in Massachusetts will be eligible to apply for paid family leave benefits and/or paid medical leave benefits under the new state Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program. Funding for the program began in October 2019 by premiums paid by employees, employers and the self-employed. The program is managed through the state Department of Family and Medical Leave. PFML benefits available as of January 1, 2021 include: Covered individuals may be entitled to up to 20 weeks of paid medical leave in a benefit year if they have a serious health condition that incap ..read more

Is your Massachusetts employer showing you the door while providing you with a severance agreement to consider? It is advisable to go over it with an employment lawyer so that she can review the implications of each provision with you, as well as identify what is there and what also might not be there. Below are eight things to consider when thinking about signing a separation agreement and release of all claims. Note that this cannot, and is not intended to, replace legal advice specific to your situation. 1. Payment – Is the payment reasonable in light of any claims you may be releasing, th ..read more

Generally speaking, current and former employees of Massachusetts employers have a right to request a copy of their personnel file. In order for the request to fit within the scope of the Massachusetts Personnel Records Law, however, it needs to be done in writing. Email is sufficient. There are many different types of employers, so it is impossible to speak generally as to whom the request should be directed. That said, sending it to the highest person the employee knows and/or has contact information for in a Human Resources department can be effective. There are no magic words required for ..read more

Massachusetts has announced a four-phased approach to reopening the economy amidst the COVID-19 / Coronavirus pandemic. The state has also published Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards. The new standards will be required across the board to all reopening workplaces, with the goal of reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission to employees and customers. The new Workplace Safety Standards are as follows. For social distancing: All persons, including employees, customers, and vendors should remain at least six feet apart to the greatest extent possible, both inside and outside workplaces Estab ..read more

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) went into effect on April 1, 2020. There are primarily two provisions relevant to workplaces: the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (Emergency FMLA) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act. The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (Emergency FMLA) Previously, to be eligible for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), among other things, an employee must have worked at a location that has 50 employees within a 75-mile radius. This left out a lot of employees from coverage. This new emergency provision responding to C ..read more

Employees often come to me with a proposed severance agreement and general release they received from their employers. These documents can be called a number of things, including a separation agreement, and can take a number of different forms, such as a letter. Typically, they are given to an employee to consider upon termination. Because the employer wrote it, the employer has sought to protect its interest in its draft. And, sometimes, the employer's interest is in direct opposition to the employee's interest. Because the employee also has her own interests to protect and advance, it is wo ..read more

A recent Massachusetts Appeals Court case reaffirms two long-held principles under the Massachusetts wage laws: that 1) certain corporate officers may be held individually liable for Wage Act violations; and 2) where employers fail to comply with the legal obligations to maintain certain time-keeping records, they should not benefit from that in litigation. 1. Individual Liability for Certain Officers for Wage Act Violations The Massachusetts Wage Act, M.G. L. c. 149, § 148, requires timely payment of wages to employees. The legislative purpose of the Wage Act is "to prevent the unreasonable d ..read more

I wanted to touch briefly on those employment policies sometimes found in employee handbooks that ban employees from discussing their pay with each other. The purpose of the policies is often to keep employees in the dark about what others are paid so as to, among other things, not allow resentment to creep in. A downside to these policies, however, is that to the extent there is discrimination at play in the workplace and it is manifested in unequal pay, it can persist if employees are not allowed to talk about their pay. (For this reason, among others, each year the government of Finland pu ..read more