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Massachusetts Wage and Overtime Rights
A Quick Guide to Unpaid Wages in Massachusetts
 Introduction
The
Massachusetts Weekly Payment of Wages Law (the "Wage Act") is the most important protection
for employee wages in Massachusetts. In general, if your current or former
employer has failed to pay you your earned wages, including bonuses and
commissions, you can sue for three times your wages and attorneys' fees.
This is usually true even if you've been classified as an independent
contractor.We represent Massachusetts employees in cases for unpaid wages. Feel free to call us during business hours
at 617-716-0282 or send an email to
nfo@mass-legal.com. We will confidentially review your situation and tell you
if you have a good case. When we take good cases, we do so on a contingent
fee basis. In other words, your employer will pay our fees. Here are some common questions we
are asked about wage laws in Massachusetts.
Here are a list of topics about the Wage Act discussed on this page.
Click a topic to go to the information, or just scroll down the page. Feel free to suggest a new
topic or question.
What
are "wages"?
Commissions and bonuses
Timing of payment
Docking pay (involuntary deductions)
Retaliation
Misclassification of employees as independent
contractors
"Off-the-clock" work
Overtime issues
Recovering unpaid wages in Massachusetts
The term "wages" includes salary, hourly pay, any commissions, bonuses,
vacation, and other forms of "pay."
Commission disputes are fairly common in Massachusetts. Although it used to be a hotly contested point, the
Massachusetts courts have recently made it very clear that the Wage Act applies to all employment commissions
as long as they are "due and payable" and "definitely determined." The Massachusetts
Wage Act states that commissions are included in the Act, "so far as apt, to the payment of commissions when the amount
of such commissions, less allowable or authorized deductions, has been
definitely determined and has become due and payable to such employee."
As the Supreme Judicial Court stated in the seminal case of in
Wiedmann v. The
Bradford Group, Inc., 444 Mass. 698 (2005), a commission payment is
definitely determined when it can be calculated arithmetically. This
requires that all of the mathematical factors needed to calculate the
commission be known or knowable.
All commissions are based on contingencies, usually sales. Companies have the right to define when and
under what circumstances commissions will be due and payable. If an employer
is smart and careful, they will put this in writing and make sure all of the
factors are very clear, including timing of payment. If an employer is
silent on commission terms, its actions and practices will be used to fill
them in.
Bonuses that are tied to definable metrics are also subject to the Wage Act.
One of the hot-button issues is what happens when an employee is terminated
or resigns before a commission (or bonus) is paid but after all or most of
the factors that give rise to the commission (or bonus) have happened.
This depends on the facts. We have several of these cases. Feel
free to contact us about your situation.
Related Blog Post:
Bonuses and Commissions under the Wage Act
Related Blog Post:
Are Bonuses Wages in Massachusetts?
Your employer must pay your earned wages within six days after the end of a pay period (or within seven days if you have
a seven-day workweek). A special rule requires that if you are terminated, you must be paid in full
on your last day of work. This includes pay for unused vacation time. However, if you resign you must be paid on the next payday.
In general, your employer cannot withhold payment of your full wages or make improper deductions from your wages.
Usually the only deductions that are allowable besides taxes and FICA are voluntary deductions like insurance,
union dues, retirement contributions and loan repayments. Generally,
involuntary deductions require a court order, like trustee process order
(wage garnishment).
Related Blog Post:
What is a “Valid Set-off” under the Massachusetts Wage Act?
It is illegal to fire an employee for trying to get paid their wages. The law says "No employee shall be penalized by
an employer in any way as a result of any action on the part of an employee to seek his or her rights under the
wages and hours provisions of this chapter." See G.L. 149, s. 148A. That being said, your employer may still
fire you or otherwise punish you for seeking your wages, but this would give rise to a retaliation lawsuit.
The Supreme Judicial Court in Smith v. Winter Place, LLC held that even internal complaints (to a boss or manager leading
to your dismissal) could form the basis of a retaliation claim.
This is the big new area of wage and overtime litigation. If an employer misclassifies an employee as a
1099 independent contractor, it can be liable for its share of employment taxes and other benefits
deprived the worker due to the 1099 arrangement. It also can be liable to pay back overtime if the employee is not exempt and
has worked more than 40 hours in a week. In addition, if the employee is hurt
on the job, the employer may be subject to penalties for failure to provide
workers' compensation coverage, and may be subject to a personal injury
lawsuit by the employee. Most people who do the regular work of a business
and get 1099s are misclassified as independent contractors.
Related Blog Post:
Massachusetts Wage Claims for Misclassified Independent Contractors.
You must be paid for all your time worked if you are an hourly
employee. Here are some common violations of the Wage Act.
- Not being paid for time spent working through meal breaks;
- Working off the clock to meet deadlines (even your managers says you're
not supposed to);
- Time working from home;
- Getting ready for work--putting on uniforms and equipment, taking off
these items at the end of a shift;
- On call time;
- Rounding off time card entries.
It depends on the situation, but it's smart to contact an attorney ASAP. The reason for this is that the law
states that payment of wages after the filing of a complaint is not a defense to
the case. If it weren't for this
law, employers could simply hold off on paying you, then make you spend time and money chasing your
payment,
and finally make the payment with no additional expense. The law does not intend that result. The law provides
that an employee will receive three times their unpaid wages and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs if the employee
takes their case to court and wins. A law that became effective July 13, 2008 made triple damages mandatory
if you win your case.
The Wage Act is designed so that normal people can have an attorney handle
their case. It is unnecessary and likely foolish to handle a Wage Act
case on your own. You cannot recover attorneys' fees if you handle a
case for yourself, even if you happen to be a licensed Massachusetts attorney!
Should I File a Wage Complaint with the Attorney General?
A filing with the Attorney General is a prerequisite to suit. We will do this for you if we take your case,
so it makes sense to check in with us first. In the vast majority of
cases, the AG complaint does not result in any recovery for the employee, but
it must be done to even bring a claim under the Wage Act in court. Once
you file in court, the employer gets notice of the matter and is locked in to
paying multiple damages and fees if you prevail. This creates strong incentive for the employer to
settle the case on favorable terms.
Free Case Review:
We are Massachusetts attorneys representing individuals in unpaid wage and overtime
cases. If you think your employer owes you wages, send an email to
nfo@mass-legal.com describing your situation or call 617-716-0282. When we take
a wage or overtime case, our fees come from the defendant, not from you.
Most employees working over 40 hours in any work week must be paid at least 1 ˝ times their regular rate of pay.
However, several categories of employees are excluded under both Massachusetts Overtime Act and
the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and need not be paid overtime. The most
important categories are "bona fide" executives, professional, and
administrative personnel. The key terms here is "bona fide." There is an economic incentive for
employers to misclassify workers who are non-exempt (entitled to overtime) as
exempt (not entitled to overtime) by claiming that they are executives or
administrative personnel. There are complex rules for determining whether an
employer is a bona fide executive, but essentially one must have real
managerial authority to direct the work of other, hire and fire, etc....
Many cases for back payment of overtime involve the misclassification of workers as
executive employees, though this is not as common as it used to be. Also, the administrative
exemption is not what the word necessarily suggests. Not all employees
who work in offices and do "administrative" tasks are administrative employees
for purposes of the exemption. See
Kelli K. Goodrow vs. Lane Bryant, Inc., 432
Mass. 165, 170-1 (2000) (discussing bona fide executive test under
Massachusetts and federal law). Your best bet is to contact an attorney for a
consultation if you are working more that 40 hours each week and think you
should be entitled to overtime.
We are Massachusetts attorneys representing individuals in unpaid wage and overtime
cases. If you think your employer owes you wages, send an email to
nfo@mass-legal.com describing your situation. When we take on a wage or overtime case, we almost always do so
on a contingent fee basis, which means that we do not charge any fees unless there is a successful settlement or judgment.
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