The Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFML) will provide Massachusetts employees paid family and medical leave beginning January 1, 2021. Although the final regulations supporting the PFML are still being developed, employers should familiarize themselves with the PFML’s key provisions, including specific employer compliance obligations which will begin as early as July 1, 2019. 

Massachusetts has a new law that prohibits employers from requiring that certain types of employees sign non-competition or “forfeiture for competition” agreements (collectively “non-competition agreements”) and establishes minimum requirements that non-competition agreements must meet to be enforceable. The new law will take effect on October 1, 2018 and apply to agreements executed after that date. 

New York legislators have recently taken significant steps towards strengthening the sexual harassment laws in both the state and New York City. Employers in these areas should familiarize themselves with the state’s and the city’s new legal requirements and begin immediately to prepare for compliance.

The Massachusetts Act to Establish Pay Equity (“MEPA”) takes effect on July 1, 2018. The goal of the new law is to reduce pay differentials among men and women doing comparable work. The penalties for violating the new law include back wages, benefits and other compensation, and attorney’s fees. For an overview of MEPA, please see Part I of this two-part series on MEPA.

On March 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a new pilot program – the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (“PAID”) – which allows employers to self-report inadvertent overtime and minimum wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) without risk of litigation or enforcement proceedings. The new six-month pilot program is expected to launch in April 2018.

On July 27, 2017, Massachusetts’ Governor Charlie Baker signed into law the Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which applies to employers with six or more employees. The PWFA makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee due to pregnancy or a condition related to pregnancy, including, but not limited to, the need to express breast milk for a nursing child.  The PWFA also provides needed and reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers.