On March 23, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker issued an Order requiring all nonessential businesses and organizations to close their physical workspaces and facilities to customers, workers and the public. This Order came days after the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported the state’s first death from COVID-19. A copy of the Governor’s Order is here.
Articles About Massachusetts Labor and Employment Law.
New Emergency Regulations Enable MA Workers Experiencing Temporary Lack of Work Caused by COVID-19 to Collect Unemployment Benefits
The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) has issued emergency regulations (430 CMR 22.00 et seq) enabling employees who have been placed on “standby status” by their employer to be eligible for unemployment benefits. It is assumed that “standby status” includes both lay-offs and furloughs, so long as the employee has an “expected return to work date.”
Massachusetts High Court Upholds Enforcement of Employee Non-Solicitation Covenant
Over the past few years, legislators and government agencies at both the state and federal levels have pushed reforms limiting the use of non-competes and other restrictive covenants by U.S. businesses. Some of those efforts have extended to covenants that restrict a party’s ability to solicit and/or hire employees who are not party to the agreements in question.
Anti-Raiding Provision Upheld by Massachusetts High Court
Restrictive covenant matters rarely make it through the appellate courts. This is true for a number of reasons, including the fact that the time-sensitive nature of restrictive covenant litigation often compels parties to achieve a resolution before their case can work its way through the court system. The dearth of appellate case law is even more pronounced for anti-raiding covenants, which appear to provoke fewer lawsuits than non-compete and customer non-solicitation covenants.
Massachusetts Governor Announces Cybersecurity Program
State and local governments have increasingly become targets of cybersecurity attacks. This year cybersecurity attacks on Baltimore and Lincoln County, North Carolina reportedly will cost those government entities $18.2 million and as much as $400,000, respectively to recover from the attacks. Last year, Atlanta spent more than $7 million to recover from a ransomware attack. A report by cybersecurity firm Coveware shows that governments paid almost 10 times as much money on average in ransom as their private-sector counterparts over the second quarter of 2019.
Withholdings to Fund Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Set to Begin October 1
After an initial delay, payroll and wage withholdings to fund the Massachusetts paid family and medical leave program are set to begin on October 1. The Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA) established a fund that will allow employees in the Commonwealth to begin taking paid leave in 2021 for their own serious health condition or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Employers will contribute to the state created fund through a contribution of .75% of employee wages up to the social security cap, currently set at $132,900 per individual for 2019.
Massachusetts Officially Amends Paid Family Leave Law; Announces Other Changes
After announcing an agreement to delay the start of contributions under the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA), the legislature passed a bill amending the law that the Governor subsequently signed and enacted on June 13, 2019. As announced, PFMLA contributions will begin on October 1, 2019, rather than July 1, 2019.
PFMLA Notification and Contribution Deadlines Extended by Three Months
On June 14, 2019, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (“DFML”) posted a new update confirming that the Massachusetts legislature and Governor Charlie Baker have enacted legislation to delay by three months (1) the date on which employers must notify their workforce of their rights and obligations under the Paid Family Medical Leave Act (“PFMLA”), and (2) the start date for employer and employee contributions to the PFML program. The workforce notification deadline is now September 30, 2019, and the contribution start date is now October 1, 2019.
New Deadlines For Massachusetts Employers Under the Paid Family Medical Leave Program
On June 13, 2019, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed an emergency bill amending the Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) law. The bill, and subsequent guidance provided by the Massachusetts Department of Paid Family Medical Leave (Department), change three key deadlines under PFML.
Anticipated Three-Month Delay for Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Program
In a late night statement issued from Beacon Hill on June 11, 2019, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, along with state house and senate leadership, announced that they agreed to implement a three-month delay to the state Paid Family and Medical Leave program. In the joint statement, the leaders explained:
Agreement in Place to Delay Required PFMLA Contributions Until October 1, 2019
Governor Charlie Baker, Senate President Karen Spilka, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo issued a joint statement on June 11, 2019, agreeing to amend the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA) and delay the required contributions until October 1, 2019. Support for delaying the contributions has grown since a coalition of business, labor, and social justice groups sent a letter to Baker, Spilka, and DeLeo on May 20, 2019.
DFML Clarifies Key Issues for Employers
The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (“DFML”) released new guidance on its website about how to comply with several provisions of the new Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (“PFMLA”).
Massachusetts Paid Leave Update: Approved Private Plan Exemption Need Not Provide Benefits Until January 2021
There is some good news for employers subject to the Massachusetts Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) and considering the availability of the private plan exemption.1 Previously, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (Department) took the position that an employer seeking a private plan exemption from the PFML program would need to provide benefits as generous as those offered under PFML at the time the exemption was approved.
Does Massachusetts Non-Compete Law Restrict Access to Federal Court or Arbitration?
The Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (Non-Compete Act) has yet to be tested, but its venue provision likely will come under special scrutiny. The venue provision governs the geographical location and forum in which a non-compete lawsuit may be maintained. Due to its apparent conflicts with federal law, the venue provision will likely be unenforceable to limit federal jurisdiction over related lawsuits or to prohibit or otherwise regulate arbitration of such lawsuits.
SJC Clarifies Overtime and Premium Pay Requirements for Salespeople Paid on a 100% Commission Basis
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) issued an important decision on May 8, 2019, in the matter of Sullivan et al v. Sleepy’s LLC et al regarding overtime and Sunday pay requirements for inside salespeople who are compensated entirely by commission.