© 2025 Seyfarth Shaw LLP Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2025 ed. | 45 2. Compensation Excluded from the Calculation of the Regular Rate of Pay Under Federal Law Federal law specifically excludes the following from the calculation of an employee’s regular rate of pay: Sums paid as gifts, including Christmas gifts, that are not regular and expected Pay for certain idle hours (e.g., holidays, vacation, illness, bereavement, jury duty, and disaster relief) Reimbursement for expenses Purely discretionary bonuses Severance pay Death benefits Reasonable uniform allowances Tuition reimbursement Call-in and call-back guarantees for hours in excess of hours actually worked Employer contributions to bona fide profit-sharing plans Exercised stock option grants Employer-paid disability benefits, medical care, retirement benefits, workers’ compensation, and other employer-paid health and welfare contributions, including insurance premiums Overtime premium payments268 3. Additional Compensation Excluded from the Calculation of the Regular Rate of Pay Under Massachusetts Law Massachusetts law specifically excludes from the regular rate of pay everything that is excluded under federal law, plus some additional types of remuneration. The applicable Massachusetts statute provides that the regular hourly rate shall exclude sums paid as: Commissions 268 29 U.S.C. § 207(e); 29 C.F.R. §§ 778.200-778.225.
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