© 2025 Seyfarth Shaw LLP Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2025 ed. | 11 week, the employer may be violating the Massachusetts day of rest laws.59 Thus, paying employees seven days after the end of the pay period could present significant risks to employers. 3. Payment of Wages Upon Termination The Wage Act also specifies the timing of payment upon termination of an employee. An employer must pay an employee who voluntarily terminates his or her own employment for all hours worked on the next regular pay day following the end of employment.60 In the absence of a regular pay day, the employer should pay the employee no later than the Saturday following termination.61 When an employee’s termination is involuntary, the employer must pay the employee all wages owed, including overtime, on the day of termination.62 This means that an employee must receive the funds in his or her bank account or be given a check in hand on the day of termination.63 Initiation of direct deposit or mailing the check on the date of termination is insufficient to comply with the law.64 Because Massachusetts includes vacation pay in the definition of wages, accrued but unused vacation pay must be included in the final paycheck.65 C. How Must Wages Be Paid? 1. Checks and Drafts The Wage Act states that employers that pay wages to employees by check or draft must provide facilities for cashing the checks without requiring a deduction from the check or draft.66 In 1980, the SJC opined on this outdated rule, holding that where the Commonwealth’s Department of Labor and Industries, which was previously responsible for the enforcement of the provision, had 59 For a discussion of these provisions, see Section VIII.B. 60 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 148. 61 Id. 62 Id. In Knous v. Broadridge Financial Solutions, 991 F.3d 344, 346 (1st Cir. 2021), the First Circuit held that the date of discharge for purposes of the Wage Act is when the employment relationship is severed and not when the employee is relieved of all duties. 63 See Clermont v. Monster Worldwide, Inc., 102 F. Supp. 3d 353, 356 (D. Mass. 2015) (“Payment is[ . . .] incomplete until the recipient of the funds has some control over the funds.”). 64 See id. 65 Massachusetts Attorney General Advisory 99/1, available at https://www.mass.gov/doc/attorney-generals-advisory-on-vacationpolicies/download (last visited Mar. 6, 2025). See also Massachusetts v. Morash, 490 U.S. 107 (1989); Elec. Data Sys. Corp. v. Attorney General, 454 Mass. 63 (2009) (deferring to Attorney General Advisory 99/1 for timing of payments for vacation pay). 66 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 148.
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