Articles Discussing Massachusetts Anti-Discrimination Statute.

On July 11, 2023, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) declined to extend its early COVID-19 emergency orders to the time limits established for filing a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD).

Executive Summary: The federal Equal Pay Act already imposes limitations on employers when it comes to compensating employees of the opposite sex for equal work. With a recent legislative change in Massachusetts and a decision earlier this month out of the Ninth Circuit, however, several jurisdictions now prohibit the use of prior salary as a justification for any pay differential between men and women.

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 Overview answers many questions that employers have been asking about this wide-ranging new law. The Overview also confirms the importance of an employer self-evaluation, offering some direction on what types of evaluations are appropriate, and explaining how it could protect a company from liability under the law.

Today, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office published its long-awaited guidance on Massachusetts’ new pay equity law, which is effective July 1, 2018. The guidance addresses a number of frequently asked questions and further provides guidance for employers on conducting “self-evaluations” of pay practices. A link to the Attorney General’s guidance is found here. Jackson Lewis attorneys are reviewing the guidance and will publish a more detailed analysis shortly.

Executive Summary: On January 12, 2018, the Maryland Legislature overrode Governor Hogan’s 2017 veto of the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act (the “Act”). As a result, Maryland employers with 15 or more employees are now required to provide for up to 40 hours of paid sick leave on annual basis to eligible employees, and employers with 14 or fewer employees must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick/safe leave on an annual basis to eligible employees. In addition to the sick leave requirement, the Act imposes notification and recordkeeping requirements and sets out a significant enforcement scheme that includes the potential imposition of treble damage penalties for violations.

On December 12, 2017, Prince George’s County, Maryland enacted Bill Number CB-87-2017, which mandates that covered employees be allowed to accrue and use paid leave for absences connected to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. For employers covered by one or more paid sick and safe time (PSST) laws – such as Montgomery County’s – the new law will be familiar because it follows the framework, and contains many of the same provisions, common to PSST laws. A key difference is that leave under the Prince George’s County law may only be used for what is more commonly known as “safe time.”1 The law is scheduled to take effect 45 calendar days after the Maryland General Assembly adjourns in 2018. The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on April 9, 2018,2 setting the effective date at May 24, 2018. Below we discuss what the law requires and highlight common areas of concern to employers where the law is silent.3

Executive Summary: A new Massachusetts law, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, will expand existing legal protections for pregnant employees beginning April 1, 2018. Most notably, employers will be required to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy and related conditions, including lactation and the need to express breast milk.

An amendment to the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices Act requires employers to accommodate pregnant workers.

Massachusetts has taken another step in protecting those who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Effective October 1, 2016, individuals will have the legal right to use restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity, regardless of their assigned sex. Additionally, no place of public accommodation (any place that is open to and solicits the patronage of the general public) will be allowed to discriminate or advertise in a way that discriminates based on gender identity.

The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that, in certain instances, an employee can access and obtain an employer’s records in order to support a claim of employment discrimination. Verdrager v. Mintz Levin, No. SJC-11901 (May 31, 2016).

In keeping with actions taken by other states, such as California and New York, Massachusetts is poised to pass an updated equal pay law that will greatly expand the ability of individuals to bring claims for violations of equal pay. The proposed law also puts limits on an employer’s effort to seek information about an applicant’s salary history during the interview process. The current proposal recently passed unanimously in the state Senate, and is now before the House of Representatives.

Effective April 7, 2015, the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act will be replaced by the Parental Leave Act (“PLA”). The new law expands the scope of the Maternity Leave Act by extending parental leave rights to men.

On November 23, 2011, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law the “Gender Identity Bill.” This makes Massachusetts the 16th state – along with California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia – to provide some level of protection to employees based on gender identity and/or expression.