© 2025 Seyfarth Shaw LLP Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2025 ed. | 1 Introduction The Commonwealth’s wage and hour laws continue to create challenges for employers that operate in the state. With a patchwork of arcane and complex statutes that impose many nonintuitive requirements, Massachusetts laws impose obligations on employers that far exceed the scope of federal law. Included in these laws are, for example: an unforgiving law requiring the timely payment of wages; a minimum wage and overtime law that differs in important respects from federal law; possibly the most complex tip statute in the country; and a more narrowly defined constriction in the use of independent contractors than permitted under federal and other state laws. On top of these substantive requirements, employers who violate these laws often face the imposition of mandatory treble damages. Since the publication of the 2022 edition, courts have interpreted these statutes in new ways, broadening the protections for employees and increasing employer obligations. Most notably, in Reuter v. City of Methuen, the Supreme Judicial Court held that an inadvertent late payment of an employee’s final wages by even a single day triggers treble damages. The dynamic nature of this area of the law creates significant challenges for employers, particularly given the risk of triple damages for violations. Understanding the legal landscape in Massachusetts is a business necessity; in the context of a class action lawsuit, an inadvertent violation could provide a windfall recovery to employees at catastrophic expense to an employer. This publication provides a comprehensive summary of Massachusetts wage and hour laws, including an analysis of the significant court decisions and regulatory authorities interpreting those laws and, where applicable, the ways in which they differ from federal law. The 2025 edition reflects a restructuring of some chapters and includes new sections designed to reflect some of the most current issues to be litigated. It is our goal to assist in-house counsel and human resources professionals in identifying policies and practices that may expose their Massachusetts business to risks that may be significantly reduced or avoided altogether. This edition covers the period through February 2025 and incorporates thoughts and comments we have received on prior editions. As always, we welcome your suggestions for our next edition, as we strive to provide the most user-friendly, helpful guide to the business community on these complex laws.
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