On Monday, August 1, 2016, Governor Baker signed “An Act to Establish Pay Equity” (the “Act”), which greatly expands upon current pay discrimination legislation. The bill, which goes into effect on July 1, 2018, requires all employers to provide equal pay, regardless of gender, to employees performing comparable work. WHAT’S CHANGING? The bill defines comparable work [...]
In a recent amendment to the fiscal year 2017 budget, the state Senate unanimously approved a measure extending the municipal retiree insurance premium moratorium for two more years, to July 1, 2018. Specifically, the moratorium prevents municipalities who utilize §21-22 of the 2011 health insurance reform statute from increasing premium contribution percentage rates for retirees. [...]
On Friday, June 3, 2016, Governor Charlie Baker signed the public records reform bill unanimously approved in late May by both the state Senate and House of Representatives. This is the first major overhaul of the state’s public records law since 1973 (more than four decades). The bill, which goes into effect on January 1, [...]
When dealing with the issue of time worked but not compensated, the absence of proper records kept by the employer can, at a very minimum, complicate a marginal case. Escobor v. Helping Hands Company, Inc., decided by the Suffolk Superior Court on April 19, 2016, is a case that illustrates this point. In that case [...]
On March 17, 2016, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (the same court deliberating on Tom Brady’s suspension), ruled that a Director of Human Resources could exercise sufficient control over an individual’s employment to be subject to individual (personal) liability under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). Graziadio v. Culinary Institute of America et [...]
The Secretary of State’s office issued revised regulations that lower the fees a governmental entity can charge for copies of public records (950 CMR 32.06). Effective February 29, 2016, entities can only charge “the actual cost of any storage device or material provided to a person in response to a request for public records”, and [...]
On February 29, 2016, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) issued an important decision articulating the type of evidence required for a plaintiff to survive summary judgment in an employment discrimination case. Bulwer v. Mount Auburn Hospital, 2015 WL 10376073 (2016). For years, courts have grappled with this issue in discrimination cases where there is rarely [...]
There are administrative and legislative developments likely to change the landscape of gender pay discrimination claims in Massachusetts. Under the state’s Equal Pay Act (passed in 1945) and existing case law, a successful plaintiff must demonstrate the following: (1) the duties of the two jobs being compared have key common characteristics; and (2) the jobs [...]
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in a California case that could have implications for all public sector unions. The case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (Case No. 14-915), is a challenge to a California law permitting public sector unions to collect a portion of union dues (the agency fee) to cover the cost [...]
Union Waived Right to Bargain Over Changes To Position Hours When the defense is that the Union waived the right to bargain over a matter, it almost always proves futile because an Employer carries the difficult burden of proving that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) “clearly, unequivocally and specifically authorizes its actions.” City of Springfield, [...]