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New Year Resolutions…Have You Made Yours?
Welcome to 2015! Each year thousands of people make New Year Resolutions to better themselves. They resolve to be happier, healthier, organized, involved in their community, etc. However, often we overlook the workplace when making these new resolutions. That’s why we put together a handful of tips to ensure your employment practices are in order. It’s time to update handbooks and policies, make sure reviews are on schedule for the year and put a “WISP” (Written Information Security Plan) into place if you haven’t already. Ring the year in right, ensure you and your employees are working in a happier, healthier company!
View our Top Ten Employment Tips for 2015!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a member of our Employment Law Group.
Voters Approve Ballot Mandating Paid Sick Leave
This month, Massachusetts voters approved a ballot measure regarding employee entitlement to receive paid sick leave. Effective July 2015, employers of eleven or more employees are now required to provide paid sick leave. As a result of the new requirement, both full and part time employees are eligible for up to 40 hours of annual paid sick leave. For purposes of calculating whether an employer falls within the eleven employee threshold, the law considers any person who performs services for wage, remuneration, or other compensation at the status of full-time, part-time, or temporary employees. To ensure compliance, employers who previously did not offer paid sick time should begin the revisions of existing policies and handbooks.
For more information on what this means for employees, please see the full Alert.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a member of our Employment Law Group.
Employers Face Wage & Hour Risks When Terminating Employees
This summer, the family-owned grocery store chain Market Basket has been engaged in a contentious and public dispute over ownership and control of the chain. As a result, thousands of jobs have hung in the balance. In a joint letter, the Attorneys General of Massachusetts and New Hampshire recently used the dispute to remind Market Basket of its legal obligations to employees. The joint letter applies to employers generally, and provides a helpful synopsis of some of the obligations and risks involved in employee terminations.
For further information or questions about employee terminations, contact a member of our Employment Law Group.
Massachusetts’ Minimum Wage Set to Increase
The minimum wage in Massachusetts is set to increase on January 1, 2015 for the first time since 2008. On June 26, 2014, Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill into law which will raise the hourly minimum wage for non-tipped employees from $8.00 an hour as follows:
- Beginning January 1, 2015, to $9.00.
- Beginning January 1, 2016, to $10.00.
- Beginning January 1, 2017, to $11.00.
The hourly minimum cash wage for tipped workers will increase from $2.63 to $3.00 an hour on January 1, 2015, and again to $3.75 an hour on January 1, 2017. As a result of these increases, Massachusetts’ minimum wage will be amongst the highest in the country.
Compliance with Massachusetts’ minimum wage laws is important since the failure to do so will result in a violation of the Massachusetts “Payment of Wages” statute, M.G.L. c.149, §148 (the “Wage Act”). Violations of the Wage Act carry a high price and are subject to mandatory treble (triple) damages and attorney’s fees, even if an employer has acted in good faith. Wage Act violations can also result in criminal penalties and civil liability for the employer as well for as the president, treasurer, and individual “officers and agents” of the employer.
For more information on the Massachusetts minimum wage increase or wage and hour compliance generally, contact a member of the Employment Law Group.
Employment Law Clip: Pitfalls of Using Independent Contractors
Many businesses use “independent contractors” to augment their regular workforce. They see advantages to using trained, non-employee workers with specialized skills who can provide needed services on a short-term or long-term basis.
However, the ability of businesses to classify workers as independent contractors is not unchecked. Businesses cannot avoid employer obligations simply by designating certain workers as independent contractors.
Please feel free to contact any member of MBBP’s Employment Law Group with questions on independent contractors.
Want more information? Try some of our other resources on this topic:
Recent Cases Expand Antidiscrimination Laws
Three recent Massachusetts cases expand employee rights under the antidiscrimination laws. Each case impacts a diverse aspect of the state’s antidiscrimination law, including the issue of attorney-client privilege applying to an internal investigation, claims of associational discrimination, and remedies for civil harassment.
For more information, please read our December Employment Law Advisor.
Scott Connolly Presents on Defending Discrimination Claims
On September 26, 2013, MBBP employment attorney Scott Connolly spoke on a panel at Boston College Law School on the subject of defending discrimination and retaliation claims before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). Scott, who has been defending employers against such claims for more than 12 years, presented to a panel of third-year law students on case evaluation, witness interviews, procedure, development of defenses, and preparation of employer Position Statements.
Employers with questions about responding to charges of discrimination or retaliation at the MCAD or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should feel free to contact Scott about this area of practice.
Internships Raise Wage and Hour Risks for Employers
Student internships are increasingly popular. While internships generally benefit employers and interns alike, there is uncertainty regarding whether internships may be paid or unpaid. The answer to this question depends on whether the internship falls under the “learner/trainee” exemption to the payment of minimum wages and overtime rules under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). If the internship falls under the exemption, then it may be unpaid. If it does not, the employer must pay the intern in accordance with federal and state minimum wage laws. A failure to do so could result in significant liability to the employer.
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) has set forth a set of six factors to use in determining whether an unpaid internship at a private-sector, for-profit business comes within the “learner/trainee” exemption, and thus whether the intern must be paid. The internship must meet each of the six factors in order to come within the exemption. The DOL has stated that the most important factor is whether the internship is primarily for the intern’s benefit rather than for the employer’s benefit. Under the DOL’s analysis, an internship is much more likely to be considered exempt if the intern does things that increase his or her skill set, as opposed to clerical tasks. Note that this test applies to for-profit businesses only; non-profits may generally maintain unpaid internships.
The DOL’s six factors are:
- The training is similar to what would be provided in a vocational school or educational institution.
- The training is for the benefit of the intern.
- The intern does not displace any regular employees, but works under their close observation.
- The employer derives no immediate advantage from the intern (and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded).
- The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship.
- Both the employer and the intern understand that the internship is unpaid.
Interns who do not meet this test are not permitted to work without pay—no matter how much of an intangible benefit the intern might receive. Employers whose internships do meet the DOL test should consider creating a document evidencing that the internship meets the DOL’s criteria.
For more information on this topic, please contact a member of the Employment Practice Group.
Massachusetts Employment Law Blog 