© 2025 Seyfarth Shaw LLP Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2025 ed. | 13 completed the labor, service, or performance required of him, therefore, according to common parlance and understanding he has “earned” his wage.72 Citing to this language, the SJC reiterated in a later case that to be earned, the wages must be for work actually performed, as opposed to work that would or should have been performed.73 With respect to commissions, as explained in more detail in Section I.A.2, they are earned when they are “definitely determined” and “due and payable.” Commissions meet these criteria if all contingencies that must occur for the employee to receive the commissions have occurred and the amount due can be precisely ascertained. Whether those criteria have been met is often litigated. Employers should speak with their employment counsel if they have any questions or concerns regarding whether commissions or other wages are “earned.” E. What Deductions Can an Employer Make from an Employee’s Wages? Employers are limited in the deductions they can make from employee paychecks. The only permissible deductions from the basic minimum wage are those required by law and those allowed for lodging and meals.74 1. Mandatory Deductions Both Massachusetts and federal law require mandatory deductions from employee wages for: (a) state and federal income tax withholdings; and (b) contributions, imposed on employees and employers, made in compliance with the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), including deductions for Social Security and Medicare.75 72 Awuah v. Coverall N. Am., Inc., 460 Mass. 484, 492 (Mass. 2011) (citing Black’s Law Dictionary 584 (9th ed. 2009)). See also Kittredge v. McNerney, Civ. No. 03-2146, 2004 WL 1147449, *3 (Mass. Super. May 7, 2004) (“The use of the word ‘earned’ in the statute reflects that the work has been performed, and therefore prompt payment is due. Phrased differently, the word ‘earned’ means that the employee’s entitlement to wages or salary payments derives from his performance of the work for which he was employed.”); Fitzgerald v. Chipwrights Design, Inc., Civ. No. 051050, 2005 WL 1869151, *2 (Mass. Super. July 1, 2005) (“[t]he use of the word ‘earned’ in the statute reflects that the work has been performed”); Meschino v. Frazier Indus. Co., Civ. No. 1510327-RGS, 2016 WL 4083342, *4 (D. Mass. Aug. 1, 2016) (“’[e]arned’ is not statutorily defined, but has been interpreted as describing the moment ‘[when] an employee has completed the labor, service, or performance required of him.’”) (citing Awuah, 460 Mass. at 492). 73 See Calixto v. Coughlin, 481 Mass. 157, 160-61 (2018) (holding that plaintiffs could not bring a Wage Act claim based on an employer’s failure to provide notice under the federal WARN Act); see also Condez v. Town of Dartmouth, 96 Mass. App. Ct. 1109, 2019 WL 6130484, *2 (Nov. 19, 2019) (“It is not a Wage Act violation to reduce an employee's salary by ordering him to take a number of unpaid furlough days . . . Where no service was actually performed, there can be no right to wages for purposes of the Wage Act”). 74 454 C.M.R. § 27.05(1). 75 26 U.S.C. § 3102; M.G.L. ch. 62B, § 2.
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