subject: Massachusetts Overtime Pay and Labor Law [print this page] Massachusetts Overtime Pay and Labor Law Massachusetts Overtime Pay and Labor Law
Overtime pay and minimum wage pay in Massachusetts are regulated by Massachusetts labor law and the U.S. Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under these standards, non-exempt workers are entitled to fair pay and treatment from their employers
Massachusetts Overtime Law
For non-exempt employees, any hours worked over 40 in a workweek are considered overtime by Massachusetts overtime law, and should be paid at time-and-a-half.
Non-exempt employees are those that do not work in an executive, administrative, or professional capacity (as defined by Massachusetts overtime law), or do not perform any other job type listed as exempt. Some exempt job types include: seamen, hotel/motel employees, gas station workers, and outside salespersons.
A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of seven 24-hour days. It must consistently begin and end on the same day, and it stands alone. Your employer cannot take the average of two weeks of work to determine your overtime hours.
Time-and-a-half is 1.5 times your hourly rate of pay. This applies to salaried workers too, who are not exempt from overtime simply by reason of being salaried. If you are a non-exempt salaried employee, your hourly rate is your salary divided by 52 weeks, then divided by 40 hours [yearly salary 52 40 = hourly rate]
Massachusetts Minimum Wage Law
The minimum wage in Massachusetts is $8.00 an hour. Important exemptions and augmentations to this include:
Tipped employees: If you make over $20 a month in tips, your minimum wage is $2.63 an hour. However, your tips and that minimum wage together must average out to $8.00 an hour for your work. If you are short of that, your employer is required by law to make up the difference.
Retail employees: If you work on a Sunday (which is optional, and cannot be required of you by your employer), your minimum wage is time-and-a-half of your regular hourly wage.
The Fair Labor Standards Act legislated a Federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, but covered employees in states with higher minimum wages, such as Massachusetts, are entitled to the higher minimum wage.
Other Massachusetts Labor Laws
Some other provisions of Massachusetts Labor Law that workers should be aware of include:
In most cases, Sunday is observed as a common day of rest, and businesses may not conduct operations on that day.
Vacation pay, sick pay, and severance pay are not mandated by law, but if you enter into an agreement with your employer concerning these benefits, they may be considered legal wages that are owed to you.
If you believe you have had wages withheld from you, you may be entitled to statutory damages including back pay, legal fees, and liquidated (double-pay) damages. Visit USOvertimeLawyers.com for more Massachusetts labor law information. Their experienced Massachusetts labor law attorneys can also review your claim and help you fight for your rights as a Massachusetts worker.
