As we previously reported, certain Massachusetts employers will now be required to annually submit Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) reporting to the state. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed the legislation into law in July 2024 and the first deadline arrives Monday, February 3, 2025. The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development recently issued FAQs
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New Massachusetts Law Creates Expanded Definition of Racial Discrimination in Employment and Other Areas to Encompass “Natural or Protective Hairstyles”
By Mark W. Batten, Lexie Reynolds & Makenzie D. Way on
On July 26, 2022, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act (“CROWN Act”) into law, making Massachusetts the 18th state to enact legislation aimed at protecting against discrimination on the basis of hairstyles that are historically associated with race. The CROWN Act will go into…
Massachusetts COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave Program to End March 15, 2022
The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Insurance has announced that the Massachusetts COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave (“MEPSL”) will expire on March 15, 2022, and employers have until April 29, 2022 to file their applications for reimbursements. This means employees may continue to take leave under the program through March 15th, but employers then…
Massachusetts Creates Exception to At-Will Employment for Employees Exercising the “Right of Rebuttal”
By Mark W. Batten & Rebecca Fishbein on
On December 17, 2021, the highest state court in Massachusetts held that an employer may not terminate an employee solely for exercising his right to file a rebuttal to be included in his personnel file. The Supreme Judicial Court found this new common law remedy is necessary to fully protect this legal right and to…