With the close of 2024 comes the 2025 notices, posters, and rate sheets from the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML). In addition, the fiscal year (FY) 2024 DFML annual report is now available with...more
11/20/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Compliance ,
Employee Benefits ,
Information Reports ,
Medical Leave ,
Notice Requirements ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
Posting Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Effective November 21, 2024, Massachusetts employers covered by the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time law must now provide expanded benefits under the Law to address various types of reproductive losses. Employers will want to...more
On February 7, 2024, in Jones v. Georgia Ports Authority, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment for an employer where a former employee who requested an...more
3/11/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Veterans Affairs ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Medical Leave ,
PTSD ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination
The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) recently provided several significant updates related to the Commonwealth’s paid family and medical leave (PFML) program as 2023 comes to a close. ...more
On July 26, 2022, Governor Charlie Baker signed into law “An Act Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Natural and Protective Hairstyles,” popularly known as the Massachusetts CROWN Act. The effective date of the new law...more
The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) continues to issue, update, and consolidate guidance on the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFML). Here is a summary of additional guidance...more
In Smith v. School Board for the City of Norfolk, Virginia, et al., No. 2:21-cv-138 (November 5, 2021), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia refused to grant a motion to dismiss to the Norfolk School...more
Massachusetts is seeing an increase in Tips Act claims, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) just reinforced that a lack of clarity in fee- and tip-related documentation may result in employer liability,...more
9/7/2021
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Former Employee ,
Hospitality Industry ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Safe Harbors ,
Service Charges ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Treble Damages ,
Wage and Hour
On January 20, 2021, an expanded five-judge panel of the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued its opinion in Terence Meehan v. Medical Information Technology, Inc., No. 19-P-1412, and affirmed a lower court decision granting...more
On May 14, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced an extension of its prior guidance relaxing the in-person verification requirements of Form I-9 for...more
Effective with the May 19, 2020, publication in the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division revokes the arbitrary lists it created in 1961 identifying industries that may, or would not,...more
On May 18, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced details of the Baker-Polito administration’s four-phase approach to reopening Massachusetts and released guidelines and requirements for businesses resuming...more
Many employers have national and international workforces. When entering into contracts with employees, inclusion of a choice-of-law provision is important for determining what jurisdiction’s laws will apply if one of the...more
In Theidon v. Harvard University, No. 18-1279 (January 31, 2020), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision granting summary judgment for Harvard University as to a female professor’s...more
In Fort Bend County, Texas v. Davis, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the requirement in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that an employee file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity...more
7/9/2019
/ Administrative Remedies ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
FEPA ,
Fort Bend County Texas v Davis ,
Jurisdictional Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Law Claims ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Title VII
On June 5, 2019, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a decision emphasizing that an employer’s well-designed and thorough internal investigations made prior to a termination decision can provide a strong...more
The Massachusetts legislature is once again seeking to enact comprehensive noncompetition legislation to rein in the use, and some may argue the abuse, of restrictive covenants in employment agreements. Currently, noncompete...more
Investors and members of boards of directors concerned about liability under the Massachusetts Wage Act, M.G.L. c. 149, § 148, can breathe a little easier after the Supreme Judicial Court’s (SJC) decision in Segal v....more