Tag Archives: Massachusetts

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Abrogates Employers’ Sole Defense to Automatic Treble Damages Liability for Late Final Wage Payments

By Matthew Kane, Amy E. Beverlin and Daniel Lula on April 6, 2022 Posted in Wage and Hour

On April 4, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court handed employees there yet another victory in Reuter v. City of Methuen, holding that they are automatically entitled to triple damages for any late payment of final wages even where the employer already has paid the employee the total wages due before a claim or complaint is … Continue Reading

New Year Brings New Requirements For Calculating Tipped Employee Wages In Massachusetts

By Shawn Butte on January 2, 2019 Posted in Wage and Hour

Earlier this year, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a comprehensive bill titled “An Act Relative to Minimum Wage, Paid Family Medical Leave and the Sales Tax Holiday,” which brought a variety of new protections for employees in Massachusetts. These protections include the implementation of a state-administered paid family and medical leave program, an increase of the … Continue Reading

Massachusetts Supreme Court Holds Employee Can Pursue State Law Disability Discrimination Claim for Failure to Accommodate Off-Duty Use of Medical Marijuana

By Saima Sheikh on July 23, 2017 Posted in Discrimination

On July 17, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court concluded that an employee could sue her employers for state law disability discrimination for failing to accommodate her use of medical marijuana after she failed to pass a drug test. In so holding, the court interpreted workplace protections not explicitly stated in Massachusetts’ medical marijuana law. … Continue Reading

New Jersey Becomes the Sixth State to Ban the Box for Private Employers

By Todd Lebowitz on August 12, 2014 Posted in Background Checks

Criminal background questions on employment applications will no longer be permitted in New Jersey, effective March 1, 2015. New Jersey joins Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Rhode Island to become the sixth state to ban the box for private employers. As we blogged here, the Illinois law takes effect January 1, 2015. Several cities have … Continue Reading