The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) has published a revised workers’ compensation Notice to Employees, which Massachusetts employers should use starting September 16, 2024....more
On June 28, 2022, Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee signed new “tip protection” legislation. The statute prohibits employers of tipped employees from retaining employee tips, creates new requirements for tip pools, and sets...more
7/14/2022
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Food Service Workers ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently affirmed a district court finding that the Massachusetts Wage Act did not apply to a person who mostly lived and worked in Florida. While the court’s decision in...more
In Reuter v. City of Methuen (April 4, 2022), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court expanded an employer’s liability for the late payment of wages. Generally, Massachusetts law requires that an employer that terminates an...more
On December 20, 2021, the City of Boston announced a new vaccination mandate, the “Temporary Order Requiring COVID-19 Vaccination for Indoor Entertainment, Recreation, Dining, and Fitness Settings in the City of Boston” (the...more
12/22/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Regulations ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports ,
Workplace Safety
Massachusetts has issued strict new travel restrictions, including quarantine requirements, unless the person is coming from a “lower-risk state,” has proof of a negative COVID-19 test, or meets certain narrow exemptions....more
All employers should care about their employees’ mental health – but when does this concern put an employer in territory that may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? In López-López v. The Robinson School, the...more
Assembly Bill (AB) 5, currently pending in the California legislature, would impose the “ABC” test on California businesses and workers, dramatically altering the legal standards applied in evaluating whether a worker is an...more
8/9/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
Pending Legislation ,
Risk Assessment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently discussed class certification in state court wage and hour cases in Gammella v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro....more
4/17/2019
/ Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Food Service Workers ,
FRCP 23 ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Numerosity ,
Offer of Judgment ,
PF Chang's ,
State and Local Government ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Wage and Hour
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office recently published guidance regarding how a new tipped-employee law is to be applied. ...more
In a groundbreaking new decision, the California Supreme Court announced a significant change in independent contractor law, adopting a modified “ABC” test for determining whether an individual is an employee under the Wage...more
The Massachusetts Attorney General has recently published an Overview and Frequently Asked Questions (the “Overview”) regarding the amendment to the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act, set to take effect on July 1, 2018. The...more
3/6/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
A flurry of new decisions from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) and the U.S. Supreme Court have approved the use of class action waivers in arbitration agreements. These decisions affirm that employers in...more