Massachusetts Employment Law

Vacation payments are wages. Employers who offer vacation should have clear, written vacation policies. They should give each worker a copy of the policy when the worker is hired and ask the worker to acknowledge in writing that the worker understands the policy.

Termination – Under the Massachusetts Wage Act, M.G.L. c. 149 § 150, a terminated employee is entitled to be paid all wages, including accrued vacation time, on the day of termination, and the failure to do so makes the employer liable for mandatory treble damages and attorneys’ fees, as the Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled in Reuter v. City of Methuen.

Employees who work for employers having eleven or more employees may earn and use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per the calendar year, while employees working for smaller employers may earn and use up to 40 hours of unpaid sick time per the calendar year. Earned sick time shall be provided by an employer for an employee to:

• • • Care for the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse, who is suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care; or
    • Care for the employee’s own physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care; or
    • Attend the employee’s routine medical appointment or a routine medical appointment for the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parents of spouse; or
    • An employer shall provide a minimum of one hour of earned sick time for every thirty hours worked by an employee to address the psychological, physical or legal effects of domestic violence. Employees shall begin accruing earned sick time commencing with the date of hire of the employee or the date this law becomes effective, whichever is later, but employees shall not be entitled to use accrued earned sick time until the 90th calendar day following commencement of their employment. On and after this 90 day period, employees may use earned sick time as it accrues.

An eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered servicemember shall be entitled to a total of 26 workweeks of leave during a 12-month period to care for the service member. The leave described in this paragraph shall only be available during a single 12-month period.

Employers must grant paid leave to all regularly employed employees for jury service. An employer must pay an employee regular wages for the first three days of juror service unless a court excuses the employer from the duty to compensate because of extreme financial hardship.

Employers must allow employees to be late or absent from work if they are volunteer firefighters who responded to an emergency that occurred outside of the employees’ normal work hours. Certification requirements apply. Leave is unpaid.

In addition to USERRA, Massachusetts law provides the following job protections for military members: • Discrimination protections for all military members; and • Job protections for eligible veterans who wish to participate in Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day events. Employers with 50 or more employees must provide paid leave to veterans participating in Veteran’s Day activities (effective July 14, 2016). Employees must provide reasonable notice. Employers with fewer than 50 employees may provide leave paid or unpaid, at the employer’s discretion.

An employer must grant leave to an employee who is a victim of or witness to a crime and who is subpoenaed to testify in a criminal proceeding. Notice requirements apply.

An employer shall permit an employee to take up to 15 days of leave from work in any 12 month period if:

• • • • • • The employee, or a family member of the employee, is a victim of abusive behavior; or
          • The employee is using the leave from work to seek or obtain medical attention, counseling, victim services or legal assistance, secure housing, obtain a protective order from a court, appear in court or before a grand jury, meet with a district attorney or other law enforcement official or attend child custody proceedings or address other issues directly related to the abusive behavior against the employee or family member of the employee.

This leave applies to all parents, men, and women, whose employers have six or more employees. Under the law, parents are eligible for 8 weeks of leave per child. If both parents work for the same employer, they shall only be entitled to 8 weeks of leave in the aggregate for the birth or adoption of the same child. Leave may be with or without pay at the discretion of the employer.

An eligible employee shall be entitled to a total of 24 hours of leave during any 12 month period, in addition, to leave available under the federal act, to:

• • • • • Participate in school activities directly related to the educational advancement of a son or daughter of the employee, such as parent-teacher conferences or interviewing for a new school;
        • Accompany the son or daughter of the employee to routine medical or dental appointments, such as check-ups or vaccinations; and
        • Accompany an elderly relative of the employee to routine medical or dental appointments or appointments for other professional services related to the elder’s care, such as interviewing at nursing or group homes. An eligible employee may elect, or an employer may require the employee, to substitute any of the accrued paid vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave of the employee for any of the leave provided under this section, but nothing in this section shall require an employer to provide paid sick leave or paid medical leave in any situation in which the employer would not normally provide any such paid leave. Leave under this section may be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule.

Veterans may be entitled to paid or unpaid leave from work on Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

Massachusetts laws require that employees who apply be granted a leave of absence to vote during the two hours after the polls open in their districts. Payment for voting time is at the discretion of the employer. Most employees have time to vote before or after work. One or two hours in most cases is the maximum time needed to vote. Employees should explain their reasons for needing more time and may also be requested to prove that they have voted by providing the name of the precinct where they cast their ballot.

Duration of Leave: PFML stands for Paid Family Medical Leave. It’s a state-offered benefit for anyone who works in Massachusetts and is eligible to take up to 26 weeks of paid leave for medical or family reasons.

Eligibility Criteria of leave: PFML is available to covered individuals who work in Massachusetts. Covered individuals include:

• • • W-2 workers who work in Massachusetts, whether they are full-time, part-time, or seasonal.
    • Self-employed individuals
    • 1099-MISC workers who work in Massachusetts, do not qualify as independent contractors, and who make up more than 50% of their employer’s workforce. 

Employees have the option to use their accrued paid leave (i.e., sick, vacation, personal leave) to supplement their PFML benefits while on a PFML-qualifying leave.

Entitlement of the leave: Paid family leave may be taken to:

• • • Care for a sick family member
    • Bond with a newborn child
    • Bond with a child after adoption or foster care placement
    • Manage family affairs when a family member is on active duty in the armed forces.
    • Paid medical leave may be taken to: Manage a personal serious injury or illness.

An employee of the commonwealth or of a county, or of a city or town, may take a paid leave of absence of not more than 30 days in a calendar year to serve as a solid organ donor. (§149:33E).