If you work in Massachusetts, you have the right to be paid in a timely manner. All too often, though, employers withhold paychecks or try and skirt the law to avoid paying overtime. If you’re owed money by your employer, you need to seize your power, understand that the law is on your side, and demand your rights.
Getting the Money You Deserve
If you work for a private employer and feel that you’re owed overtime pay or other unpaid wages, there are two routes you can go. First, you can file a wage complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General. However, the Attorney General’s Office admits that it doesn’t pursue every complaint, and that it can take several weeks to process your complaint. You can imagine the nightmare of bureaucracy that resolving a complaint through the Attorney General’s Office entails.
The other option is to hire a labor attorney. According to Massachusetts law, you have the right to take your employer to court 90 days after filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office (or sooner with a waiver). If your employer is found to be at fault, you can recover the wages owed to you and triple damages, as well as court costs and attorney fees. Because the law says that your employer has to pay your attorney fees, getting a labor attorney shouldn’t cost you a dime.
Afraid of Getting Fired?
Many people who are being victimized by their employers are afraid that they’ll be fired if they take action. That could happen, but the law specifically addresses this issue, and prohibits employers from penalizing employees who assert their rights. If your employer in any way punishes you, you have the right to file a claim against him.
Get Help Now
To get the money you deserve, simply complete the form to the right or call 475-277-2200. Lemberg & Associates’ employment lawyers will review your case and give you no-nonsense answers to your questions.
What You Need To Know: Massachusetts Overtime Pay
Generally speaking, non-exempt employees must be paid 1-1/2 times their regular pay for every hour worked over 40 hours during a workweek. Keep in mind that overtime pay isn’t required if you work more than eight hours in a single day; it is only applicable after 40 hours per week.
Massachusetts Blue Laws restricts the operation of certain businesses on Sundays and holidays. Work that is exempt from Blue Laws includes:
Food sellers that employ three or fewer people per shift
Toll and bridge workers
Public health and safety workers
Emergency repairmen
Sellers and manufacturers of fuel and electricity
Bank documenting processing
Media and communications
Real estate
Art gallery exhibits
Librariesv
Public bathhouses
Non-commercial fishing and bait selling
Fishing
Renting horses, vehicles, boats, and aircraft for recreational use
Sale and rental of sporting equipment
Retail sale of fuel and automotive repairs
Retail sale of batteries and automotive parts for emergency use
Retail nurseries
Land cultivation, cheese making, and butter making
Off-premises food sellers
Kosher sales and deliveries
Making and selling bakery products
Retail sales of a variety of food products
Sale and delivery of ice
Retail sales of medical and personal health items
Retail sales of greeting cards and film
Retail sales of gifts, crafts, souvenirs, and antiques
Retail sales of pets and pet supplies
Transport of goods, passengers, and livestock
Lodging
Shoeshine
Musicians employed for parades
Religious and legal work
Car washes that employ a maximum of two people
Laundromats
Lottery ticket sales
Retail sales
Video rentals
Hair salons
Banking
Driver education
Retailers that are not exempt from Blue Laws cannot mandate that employees work on Sunday, nor penalize employees that do not choose to work on Sunday. Retailers with more than seven employees (including the owner) must pay employees 1-1/2 times their regular rate of pay for work performed on a Sunday. This does not apply to exempted executive, administrative, and professional employees.
Retailers can mandate work and do not have to pay 1-1/2 pay on the following holidays:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
President’s Day
Evacuation Day
Patriots’ Day
Bunker Hill Day
Retailers with more than seven employees (including the owner) must pay employees 1-1/2 times their regular rate of pay and cannot mandate that employees work on:
New Year’s Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Columbus Day after 12:00 noon
Veteran’s Day after 1:00 p.m.
Retailers who have a local police permit and who have received State approval must pay employees 1-1/2 times their regular pay and cannot mandate that employees work on:
Columbus Day before 12:00 noon
Veteran’s Day before 1:00 p.m.
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
Non-retail businesses can pay straight pay and can mandate that employees work on:
New Year’s Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
President’s Day
Evacuation Day
Patriots’ Day
Bunker Hill Day
Columbus Day after 12:00 noon
Veteran’s Day after 1:00 p.m.
Non-retail businesses that have a local police permit must pay employees 1-1/2 times their regular pay and cannot mandate that employees work on:
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Columbus Day before 12:00 noon
Veteran’s Day before 1:00 p.m.
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
According to Massachusetts law, the following workers do not qualify for overtime pay:
Residential janitors and caretakers who live on the property and make more than $30 per week
Golf caddies, newsboys, and child performers
Those employed in executive, administrative, or professional capacities or who are trainees for those positions and earn more than $80 per week
Outside salesmen and buyers
Section Nine apprentices or handicapped people
Fishermen
Public switchboard operators
Drivers and helpers exempted by the Interstate Commerce Commission or the Railway Labor Act
Seasonal workers who work for businesses in operation a maximum of 120 days per year
Seamen
Those employed by hotels and motels
Gas station employees
Restaurant employees
Garagemen
Those employed by hospitals, convalescent homes, and nursing homes
Those employed by a nonprofit school or college
Those employed by a nonprofit summer camp
Agricultural workers
Amusement park workers
Massachusetts Minimum Wage
The minimum wage in Massachusetts is $8.00 per hour. This applies to everyone except:
Employees who receive more than $20 per month in tips earn $2.63 per hour; however, to be paid this rate, they must receive at least $8.00 per hour when wages and tips are combined, and all tips must be kept by the employee or distributed through a valid tip-pooling system
Massachusetts Meal Breaks
Massachusetts law states that those who work more than six hours are entitled to a 30-minute meal break. This does not apply to certain industries, such as iron works, glass works, paper mills, print works, bleaching works, and dyeing works.
Massachusetts Pay Days
Massachusetts law mandates that employers pay workers within six days after the pay period ends, or seven days if your workweek is seven days long.
About the Author:
Sergei Lemberg is an attorney focusing on consumer law, class actions related to automotive issues, and personal injury litigation. With nearly two decades of experience, his areas of practice include Lemon Law (vehicle defects), Debt Collection Harassment, TCPA (illegal robocalls and texts), Fair Credit Reporting Act, Overtime claims, Personal Injury cases, and Class Actions.
He has consistently been recognized as the nation's "most active consumer attorney." In 2020, Mr. Lemberg represented Noah Duguid before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case Duguid v. Facebook. He is also the author of "Defanging Debt Collectors," a guide that empowers consumers to fight back against debt collectors and prevail, as well as "Lemon Law 101: The Laws That Lemon Dealers Don't Want You to Know."
