The Amended Massachusetts Equal Pay Act (“MEPA”) will become effective in less than one week, on July 1, 2018. MEPA was a landmark pay equity law that inspired dozens of states, cities, and even private companies to require and to make similar changes with the goal of reducing and eliminating
The Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (the “Act”) goes into effect on April 1, 2018 and has immediate implications for all Massachusetts employers who employ six or more employees. Broadly speaking, the Act amends the current statute prohibiting discrimination in employment, G.L. c. 151B, §4, and prohibits discrimination on the
In a case of first impression, the Supreme Judicial Court held that an employee who is a “qualifying patient” under the Massachusetts’ 2012 medical marijuana law (“An Act for the humanitarian medical use of marijuana”) (the “medical marijuana law”) may pursue a claim for handicap discrimination under the state’s anti-discrimination
On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”). This law substantially revises federal trade secret practice in the United States. Most notably, the DTSA creates a mechanism for private civil trade secret claims to be pursued directly in federal court. The law is also significant for
If you are an owner or manager of a business, do your employees take lunch breaks? If so, how long are their breaks? Are the breaks paid or unpaid? Massachusetts provides strict protections for employees with respect to meal breaks, as well as harsh penalties for employers who fail to comply. An overview of the
According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, domestic violence victims annually lose a total of nearly 8 million days of paid work—the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs—as a result of domestic violence. Today, more than a dozen states have enacted laws protecting victims from being discriminated against by
