On April 27, 2026, a Suffolk Superior Court jury issued what appears to be the first plaintiff-side verdict validating a retaliation claim under the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA). In Boyle v. Wayfair, the jury awarded Plaintiff Mary Boyle approximately $4.7 million on her retaliation claims under the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices…
POSTED IN: Employment Law, News
Failing to clearly define a bonus’s measurable and objective requirements can have significant consequences for employers. This article examines a recent court decision in which an employee successfully argued that a quarterly bonus constituted “wages” under the Massachusetts Wage Act, underscoring the importance of understanding what qualifies as “wages” under the Act, and importantly, why…
POSTED IN: Employment Law
Employment law is constantly evolving as courts issue groundbreaking decisions and new statutes are enacted at both the state and federal level. As a result, regularly conducting employment-related risk management training has become increasingly important for employers. Areas that warrant particular attention include, among others, management best practices, wage-and-hour compliance, workplace harassment prevention, and personnel…
POSTED IN: Employment Law, News
The Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act’s pay range disclosure requirements for employers with 25 or more employees are now in effect. Businesses should ensure that they understand their obligations and comply with the new requirements. Key Takeaways Effective Date: Pay range disclosure requirements took effect on October 29, 2025. Covered Employers: Pay range disclosure requirements apply…
POSTED IN: Employment Law
Encountering reasonable accommodation requests and employee disability disclosures appears inevitable; and employers of all sizes are destined to encounter these at one point or another. For this reason, having the preliminary roadmap below with important employer considerations is a sound business practice given the legal exposure that may result from inadvertent missteps along the way.[1]…
POSTED IN: Employment Law
In a unanimous decision, the United States Supreme Court held, in E.MD. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera, that employers are not required to meet a heightened standard of proof to establish that a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exemption applies. Rather, employers need to meet a lower preponderance of the evidence standard, the default standard of…
POSTED IN: Employment Law
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a series of Executive Orders focused on state and federal immigration law enforcement, border security, detention, and removal of individuals unlawfully present in the United States. On the same day, Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued two directives aimed at empowering law enforcement officials to…
POSTED IN: Employment Law
On November 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in Texas v. Department of Labor, struck down the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOU Final Rule that increased the salary thresholds for the white-collar overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Finding that the DOL overstepped its authority, the…
POSTED IN: Employment Law
Starting November 21, 2024, qualifying reasons for an employee’s use of earned sick time under Massachusetts’ Earned Sick Time Law (M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C) will include the physical or mental health care needs as a result of the employee’s or the employee’s spouse’s “pregnancy loss or a failed assisted reproduction, adoption or surrogacy.” This…
POSTED IN: Employment Law
On April 1, 2024, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published a final rule, amending its existing “walkaround” rule, and expanding employees’ rights by allowing employees to designate non-employee third parties as their employee representative during OSHA inspections. The new rule’s effective date is May 31, 2024. Current Walkaround Rule Prior to this…
POSTED IN: Employment Law
