What is the Massachusetts Paid Family Medical Leave Law (“PFML”): In short, this new law will entitle many Massachusetts employees and independent contractors to: up to 20 weeks paid medical leave for their own health conditions up to 12 weeks … Continue reading →

After almost ten years of back-and-forth in the legislature, a new non-compete law (M.G.L. c. 149, §24L) will take effect in Massachusetts on October 1, 2018. Although the new law does not wholly do away with non-compete agreements, it does … Continue reading →

As noted in a prior post, Massachusetts has one of the narrowest definitions of an “independent contractor” in the country. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Massachusetts is equally strict when it comes to whether interns must be … Continue reading →

On August 1, 2016, Massachusetts enacted the Pay Equity Act (M.G.L. c. 149, §105A), which is intended to make it unlawful to pay men and women different amounts for “comparable work.” While one might have thought that the Massachusetts Equal … Continue reading →

A Company hires an employee and has a well-drafted, enforceable written agreement containing confidentiality provisions, non-solicitation clauses, and non-compete obligations (so-called “Restrictive Covenants”). The employee stays with the Company for years, receives various promotions and then decides to leave and … Continue reading →

The new Massachusetts sick time law goes into effect on July 1, 2015 and requires ALL employers of any size to provide up to 40 hours/year of sick time to ALL Massachusetts employees of any status. Fairly simple and straightforward. … Continue reading →

Recently, the First Circuit federal appeals court ruled that Massachusetts law would not draw a hard and fast line between active solicitation and merely accepting business.  The specifics of the case are familiar: employee/sales representative signs a non-solicitation agreement prohibiting … Continue reading →

The Massachusetts Federal Court recently reaffirmed what should be obvious by now.  If an employer issues a Handbook or similar set of policies and procedures and includes language reserving the right to unilaterally change those policies and procedures, then the … Continue reading →

As discussed in a previous blog, the NLRB created quite a stir by ruling that “at-will” statements might violate federal labor laws that protect employees’ rights to engage in concerted activity aimed to change their employment status.  Several months later, … Continue reading →

In recent months, the NLRB* has decided to crack down on some fairly typical and widespread employer policies which, on their face, have hardly seemed suspect and some of which most lawyers, including this one, have advised their clients to … Continue reading →