| Fair Employment Practices | Employers with six or more employees are not allowed to discriminate against current or potential employees based on protected characteristics, such as race, color, religious affiliation, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, criminal history, disability, sexual orientation, legally recognized handicap, genetics, or military/veteran status, according to the Fair Employment Practises Law (FEPL), also known as Chapter 151B.
The FEPL forbids sexual harassment in addition to retaliation against anyone who opposes illegal activity, reports it, or assists with an inquiry. |
| Equal Pay | Massachusetts prohibits employers from paying workers less for comparable labor than workers of the opposite gender. Additionally, the legislation forbids employers from punishing or otherwise discriminating against an employee pursuing their right to fair pay under wage and hour rules. |
| Discussion of Wages | According to the equal pay law, an employer cannot make it a requirement of employment that a worker refrain from asking about, discussing, or revealing information regarding their own or another worker's salary. |
| Pregnancy Accommodation | An employer with six or more employees must make reasonable accommodations for a worker's pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, including breastfeeding or the need to express milk for a nursing child, under the Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (MPWFA), which amends the FEPL. |
| Access to Personnel Files | Employees are entitled to access their personnel files within five business days of submitting a written request to the employer. The employer must grant access to an employee twice each calendar year. |
| Whistleblower Protections | The False Claims Act forbids employers from creating, enforcing, or adopting any rules, regulations, or policies that would prevent an employee from acting to further a false claims investigation or from disclosing information to the government or law enforcement, as well as from retaliating against an employee for doing either of those things. |
| Ban the Box | Massachusetts restricts an employer's ability to determine a prospective employee's wage history when recruiting and hiring candidates. |
| Minimum Wage | According to the Minimum Fair Wage Act, the hourly minimum wage for most workers is $15.00. The minimum wage law has some exclusions, and some workers have a different minimum pay rate (like tipped personnel, for example). |
| Overtime | All hours worked over 40 in a given workweek must be compensated at 1.5 times the standard hourly rate for nonexempt employees. The state's mandatory overtime policy is exempt for a few jobs and workplaces. |
| Meal Break | Employees who work over that threshold are entitled to a 30-minute meal break every six hours. This time may be compensated or not. Employees can pray during meal breaks and must be free to exit the building. |
| Child Labor | All minors under the age of 18 are not permitted to work in certain professions, such as track maintenance, hoist machine operation or management, in or near blast furnaces, or any brewery, distillery, or another establishment where alcoholic beverages are produced, packaged, wrapped, or bottled.
Minors under 16 are also prohibited from working in various other occupations, including barbershops, mercantile establishments, and public bowling lanes.
A minimum of 30 minutes must pass during an unpaid meal break for minors who labor for more than six hours in a single calendar day. |
| Pay Frequency | Hourly nonexempt workers must be paid at least once weekly or twice monthly. Unless the employee specifies otherwise, exempt workers may be paid biweekly or semimonthly. |
| Health Care Continuation | Group health insurance policies sold to firms with two to 19 employees must include continuation coverage following the Massachusetts health care continuation law. Employees and their covered dependents who lose coverage due to a qualifying occurrence must receive continuation coverage. |
| Family and Medical Leave | Employers with six employees or more are subject to the Massachusetts Parental Leave Act (MPLA). It allows for up to eight weeks of unpaid vacation in the event of a child's birth, adoption, or placement with the employee under a court order for a kid under the age of 18, under the age of 18, or who is physically or intellectually impaired. |
| Paid Family Leave | According to Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Law (MESTL), qualified employees are entitled to use sick and safe leave for the following purposes: to diagnose, treat, or attend to an employee's or a covered family member's illness, injury, or medical condition; to receive routine or preventive care; or to attend to the employee's or a covered family member's effects of domestic violence. |
| Paid Sick Leave | Regardless of where the company is situated, an employee is qualified for sick and safe leave, provided their primary place of employment is in Massachusetts. |
| Smoke-Free Workplace | According to the Massachusetts Smoke-Free Workplace Law, an employer must offer a smoke-free environment for every employee who works in an enclosed workplace, with a few exceptions. |
| Safe Driving Practices | It is against the law for anyone to text, send, receive, or read electronic messages while driving. Calls can be made or received by drivers over 18, but they cannot be disruptive while going, and one hand must always be on the wheel. The use of cell phones while driving is prohibited for anyone under the age of 18. |
| Final Pay | Employees who leave their position must get their final paycheck by the following regular payday or Saturday if there is no usual payday.
All payments due and outstanding on the day of termination must be paid to a terminated (fired or laid off) employee. |
