A Firefighters union proposes a new benefit, night differential, at 2% the first year, then 3% the second year, and 4% the third year of a 3-year contract (the “differential” is to be paid for all hours, daytime too). When the case heads to arbitration, the Union submits a proposal for a 9% night differential [...]
A Massachusetts federal court has ruled that a failure to pay overtime compensation makes an employer liable under the Massachusetts Wage Act in the same manner---treble damages, attorneys’ fees and interest---as the failure to pay regular compensation. In Lambirth v. Advanced Auto, Inc., 2015 WL 6043710 (October 15, 2015) an automotive technician sued the employer [...]
Can a firefighter call in “sick” while on vacation, and thus preserve another vacation day? What if there is medical documentation? Veteran readers might wonder, what is the parties’ practice? And if the “practice” is that a grand total of two firefighters had done this – in 1992, but not before or since – that [...]
On October 30, 2015, Phil Collins was honored by the Massachusetts Municipal Personnel Association (MMPA) with the 2015 Emil Skop Award. One of two recipients this year (the other being Vanessa Hale, Assistant Town Administrator/Personnel Liaison for the Town of Southborough), the following is the text of the introductory remarks given by Denise Casey, Human [...]
HRD's Delegation To Local Appointing Authorities To Issue And Receive Bypass Letters Deemed Permissible, And Flawed Selection Process Not Fatal To Promotion Bypass Decision Ultimately Based On The Merits In two promotion bypass cases decided on September 24, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) upheld the streamlined way that bypass letters are issued and made it [...]
In a Town of Arlington case (41 MLC 272 (2015) recently decided by a hearing officer at the Department of Labor Relations (DLR), the Town was deemed to have an obligation to bargain with the Arlington Police Patrolmen’s Association about its decision to use an assessment center as the tool for ranking candidates for promotion [...]
The Department of Labor Relations (DLR) recently issued a ruling that the City of Springfield could not install GPS devices in city owned trucks without bargaining with the union. City of Springfield, 41 MLC 383 (2015). The GPS trackers record location, idle time, distance driven, stops and speeding events, and give the employer access to [...]
In City of Woburn, a Department of Labor Relations (DLR) arbitration decision, a DLR arbitrator upheld the four month suspension of a police officer for deliberate violation of an order to stay away from his girlfriend, who was facing trial for distribution of oxycodone. But, the Mayor’s order that the officer apologize to the Mayor [...]
On Thursday, June 25, 2015, three years after Massachusetts citizens voted to allow the use of marijuana for therapeutic purposes, the state’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem dispensary is the first of many dispensaries set to open across the state - 15 of the state’s 35 dispensary licenses have already [...]
On June 1, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., and held, 8-1, that Title VII prohibits employers from refusing to hire an applicant in order to avoid accommodating a religious practice that could be accommodated without undue hardship. The case was brought by Ms. Samantha Elauf, a Muslim [...]