Massachusetts Employment Law Blog

The Massachusetts Senate and House have enacted a bi-partisan bill designed to protect workers from unscrupulous employers who withhold wages, salaries and benefits, and protect law-abiding business from the resulting unfair competition. Filed by Senators Cynthia Creem and Steven Tolman, and Representatives Peter Koutoujian and Martin Walsh, the bill (H. 4663) calls for clarification of…

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that employees who make internal complaints regarding wage violations are protected against retaliation from their employers. These are the whistleblowing protections under the Wage Act. In Smith v. Winter Place LLC, 447 Mass. 363 (August 1, 2006), the Supreme Judicial Court reversed a lower court’s grant of summary…

A Federal District Court has denied a motion to dismiss a claim brought by employees seeking to bring a class action lawsuit against their employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for nonpayment of overtime wages, in spite of a class action waiver found in the employer’s dispute resolution program. The case is Skirchak,…

Recently, several large financial services firms, including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS, have paid more than $160 million to settle state and federal overtime lawsuits brought by stockbrokers and financial advisors. The core issues in these cases suggest the risks employers face in classifying employees as “exempt” from federal and/or state minimum wage and…

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced the arrest of seven current and former managers of IFCO Systems North America, Inc. (IFCO) as part of a new initiative to crack down on employers of undocumented workers. The arrests were made in connection with the “second phase” of the Secure Border Initiative. Phase…

A recent Massachusetts Superior Court case, O’Connor v. U.S. Art Co. Inc., held that the firing a minority shareholder by the majority shareholders in a closely held corporation was a dereliction of fiduciary duty, calling into question the applicability of at-will employment rules in this context. O’Connor and Lank formed an art transportation company, with…

Who is an employer under the Massachusetts Wage Act? It’s a question we commonly face in representing employees in their disputes with employers over wages. A recent decision has recognized that investors who involve themselves closely in management and decision making – especially a decision not to pay wages – may have personal liability for…

S. 928 – An Act to Protect Employee Wages and H. 3775 – An Act to Protect Employees from Unscrupulous EmployersIntroduction (by Philip J. Gordon) Chairman McGee, Chairman Rodrigues and distinguished members of the Committee. Good morning. We are here today to ask you to clarify Massachusetts law so there is no mistake that when…

The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently held, in Campbell v. General Dynamics Government Systems Corp., that an employer’s use of email was insufficient to notify employees regarding a mandatory arbitration policy. As a result, the court dismissed the company’s attempt to force employees to arbitrate a grievance under the Americans with Disabilities Act, rather…

The United States Department of Labor has issued rules revising the criteria used to determine whether employees may be classified as “exempt” (e.g., salaried) from the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These rules went effective August, 2004. The last significant change they made to these rules was…