On January 31, 2024, in Mehra v. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge held that a percent-of-profit incentive payment under a profit-sharing scheme is not a commission subject to the...more
3/5/2024
/ Breach of Contract ,
Business Profits ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Employment Litigation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Profit Sharing ,
Retaliation ,
Sales Commissions ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Wage Act ,
Wages
After several years of evolving guidance, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) has announced that starting November 1, 2023, employees who apply for paid family and medical leave (PFML) benefits...more
For many employers in Massachusetts, remote work has become part of the new normal, with nearly a quarter of employees in the state having worked remotely in 2021, according to one recent media report. While such arrangements...more
The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) recently published a new workplace poster, notifications, and new rate sheets for all employers in the state for 2023 regarding the Paid Family and Medical Leave...more
In a decision that further clarifies Massachusetts law with regard to employee classification, the Massachusetts Appeals Court recently held that home inspectors working on behalf of an inspectional services company were...more
On May 28, 2021, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law an act requiring eligible Massachusetts employers to provide emergency paid sick leave to employees who are unable to work for COVID-19–related reasons. On...more
On May 28, 2021, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law “An Act Providing for Massachusetts COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave.” The act requires eligible Massachusetts employers to provide emergency paid sick...more
On May 28, 2021, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law “An Act providing for Massachusetts COVID-19 emergency paid sick leave.” The act requires eligible Massachusetts employers to provide emergency paid sick...more
Mandatory arbitration clauses for employment disputes have received a great deal of attention in recent years. In the First Circuit, there is now more clarity regarding the factors used to determine the enforceability of...more
4/16/2021
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Misclassification ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Wage and Hour
On May 14, 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) issued revised draft regulations to accompany the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law. The draft regulations come...more
Following the recently announced three-month delay to notice and contribution requirements, and the announcement of updated template notices and final regulations, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave...more
On June 18, 2019, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) issued final regulations regarding the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Law (PFML). This follows months of revisions, public...more
6/24/2019
/ Covered Employer ,
Delays ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Contributions ,
Employer Contributions ,
Final Rules ,
Medical Leave ,
Notice Requirements ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
Updated Forms
In a joint statement issued earlier this week, Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker, state senate president Karen Spilka, and state house speaker Robert DeLeo announced a three-month delay to the contributions that will fund...more
In the second episode of this two-part series, John Stretton and Rachel Mandel discuss the complexities surrounding the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, including no fault attendance...more
5/8/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Attendance ,
Best Practices ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Leave ,
Documentation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Leave of Absence ,
Medical Leave ,
Opinion Letter ,
Wage and Hour
In the first episode of this two-part series, John Stretton and Rachel Mandel discuss the complexities surrounding the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, including the interplay between the...more
11/19/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Interactive Process ,
Leave of Absence ,
Medical Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sick Leave ,
Undue Hardship ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour
Massachusetts voters legalized recreational marijuana through a ballot referendum in 2016. As of July 1, 2018, retail marijuana stores are now permitted to operate in the state. The law allows cities and towns to exercise...more
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker just signed into law the so-called “grand bargain” bill, which contains provisions that will have a significant effect on employers in the state. The law is a compromise designed to avoid...more
As we get closer to the July 1, 2018 implementation date for the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act (MEPA), it is time to focus in earnest on practical workplace considerations for affected employers. Although the MEPA does not...more
We recently reported on the sweeping pay equity legislation that garnered much attention throughout the most recent legislative session in Massachusetts. After much anticipation, this week Governor Charlie Baker signed the...more
Readers are probably aware that last year, Massachusetts voters approved a new sick leave law that went into effect on July 1, 2015. Many employers with preexisting leave policies, however, took advantage of the so-called...more
As many of you are aware, the July 1, 2015 effective date of the Massachusetts earned sick leave law is looming. In summary, the new law provides that employers of 11 or more employees must provide their Massachusetts...more
In April 2015, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts issued two important decisions providing guidance for employers on the scope of Massachusetts’s wage and hour laws. In one decision, the Court held that employers may...more
A retail employer did not violate federal civil rights laws or the Massachusetts state anti-discrimination law when it fired an employee because she made harassing, disparaging, and inappropriate accusations against her...more
On July 12, 2013, Governor Dannel Malloy vetoed legislation that would have limited the use of non-compete agreements in Connecticut (which we covered in a recent issue of the Connecticut eAuthority)....more
A new Connecticut law places some restrictions on the use of non-compete agreements in the context of employer mergers and acquisitions....more