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Wages Wage Act

DarrowEverett LLP

Terminating Employees? Ignoring State And Local Wage Laws Can Cost You

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Terminating employees can be a daunting task. Failing to follow your state or local rules when terminating an employee can make the task exponentially more difficult and expensive. When a business plans on firing or laying...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Massachusetts Superior Court Finds Incentive Payment Under Profit-Sharing Scheme Is Not a Commission Under Wage Act

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

ArentFox Schiff

A Percent-of-Profit Incentive Payment is Not “Wages” Under the Massachusetts Wage Act

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The Massachusetts Wage Act (MA Wage Act) is one of the most punitive wage payment laws in the country. Employers who violate the MA Wage Act are liable for treble damages, attorney’s fees, and costs. The question of what...more

Bowditch & Dewey

Client Alert: Garden Leave Payments Under MA Noncompetition Agreement Act Not Covered by Wage Act

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A Massachusetts Federal District Court has held that an employer’s garden leave payments to a former employee pursuant to a non-compete provision are not considered “wages” under the Massachusetts Wage Act. As a...more

Holland & Hart - Employers' Lawyers

New Guidance on Bonuses and Commissions May Cause Headaches for Employers

Organizations commonly require employees to be employed on the date a commission or bonus is paid to receive the commission or bonus. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), which interprets and administers...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Massachusetts Employers Be Warned: Telling Employees “Your Wages are Coming, Your Wages are Coming” May Lead to Treble Damages

On April 4, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held, in Reuter v. City of Methuen, that employers are strictly liable for treble wages as liquidated damages if they fail to make timely payments upon an employee’s...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

The Massachusetts High Court Holds That Employers Are Now Automatically Liable For Treble Wage Damages for Any Untimely Paid Final...

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) – Massachusetts’ highest court – recently held that under the Massachusetts Wage Act (“Wage Act”) employees are entitled to automatic treble wage damages – that is, three times...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

First Circuit Upholds Federal Preemption of Massachusetts Wage Act Claims

On June 10, 2021, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a plaintiff’s lawsuit alleging, among other things, failure to pay wages under the Massachusetts Wage Act. In Rose v. RTN Federal Credit Union, the...more

BCLP

In Colorado, Employers May Giveth - But They May Not Taketh Away

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Last month, the Colorado Supreme Court finally resolved a longstanding issue in Colorado employment law: whether employers may have a policy or agreement that provides for forfeiture of accrued but unused vacation. The...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Call Center Employees in Massachusetts Win Claim For Sunday Premium Pay

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Seyfarth Synopsis: A Massachusetts trial court judge ruled that employees were entitled to premium pay for work on Sundays at a call center, under a Massachusetts statute governing Sunday and holiday work at a retail “store...more

Burns & Levinson LLP

Don’t Let a “Bonus” Become a “Wage” (Under the MA Wage Act)

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As I have previously warned in prior blog, the Massachusetts Wage Act exposes a company and individuals having management responsibility for the company to mandatory treble damages and attorneys’ fees for failing to pay...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Massachusetts SJC Holds That Wage Act Does Not Preempt Common Law and Equitable Claims for Unpaid Wages

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has overruled a Superior Court decision holding that a state statute requiring payment of wages preempts common law and equitable causes of action for recovery of unpaid wages....more

Foley Hoag LLP

Out-of-State Workers May Sue under Massachusetts Wage Act

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Late last month, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held in Taylor v. Eastern Connection Operating, Inc. that out-of-state plaintiffs may bring suit under the Massachusetts independent contractor statute where the...more

Burns & Levinson LLP

Managers of LLCs Can be Personally Liable Under the Massachusetts Wage Act

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In a June 13, 2013 decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clarified that managers of Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) can be individually liable for violations of the Massachusetts Weekly Payment of Wages Act,...more

Foley Hoag LLP

Recent Decision by Massachusetts’ Highest Court Removes Barriers to Wage Claims

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This week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a decision that makes it easier to bring lawsuits under the Massachusetts Wage Act. In Depianti v. Jan-Pro Franchising International, Inc., the SJC held that a...more

Foley Hoag LLP

MA Highest Court Decides that Managers at LLCs Can Be Individually Liable For Wage Act Violations

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Yesterday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that managers of limited liability companies can be individually liable under the Massachusetts Wage Act for unpaid wages due to employees. Historically, the Wage Act...more

Foley Hoag LLP

Massachusetts Appeals Court Takes Expansive View of Retaliation Under the Wage Act

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In Fraelick v. PerkettPR, Inc., the Massachusetts Appeals Court recently held that an employee had a claim for retaliation under the Massachusetts Wage Act, despite that her underlying complaint was not about wages. In that...more

Burns & Levinson LLP

3 Keys to Drafting Commission Plans to Avoid Wage Act Violations

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As I mentioned in some of my prior posts, the Massachusetts Weekly Payment of Wages Act (“Wage Act”) poses many challenges to employers due, in part, to the vagueness of its terms, the strict liability it imposes on employers...more

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