Massachusetts Labor Guidance
Free plain-English summaries of opinion letters, administrative policies, and interpretive notices from Massachusetts's labor agency, with the current status and the official source on every page.
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Immigration status doesn't affect a worker's wage-and-hour rights
This Advisory from the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division reaffirms that every worker in Massachusetts is protected by the state's wage, safety, discrimination, and child labor laws regardless of …
Unpaid internships at a nonprofit workforce-development program are not covered "occupation"
A nonprofit youth workforce-development organization asked DLS whether its unpaid internship program — an educational track combining classroom instruction with hands-on placements at corporate partne…
General wage-and-hour Q&A: full-time definition, holiday pay, and the three-hour reporting rule
A dental office asked DLS a series of general wage-and-hour questions: how many hours make a "full time" workweek, whether part-time or full-time staff are entitled to vacation or holiday pay, whether…
Unpaid pre-employment screening program for personal care attendants held not compensable
A home care company asked the Division of Occupational Safety whether it must pay applicants for attending a four-day, unpaid pre-employment screening program required before becoming a personal care …
Building Automation Service technicians and the Prevailing Wage Law
An employer asked whether Building Automation Service (BAS) technicians are covered by the Massachusetts Prevailing Wage Law. The office responded that it depends on the specific duties actually perfo…
Paying psychiatric patients $6/hour cleaning crew requires a sub-minimum wage waiver
A non-profit hospital asked whether it could pay $6.00 per hour to psychiatric patients who perform cleaning and maintenance work as part of a rehabilitation program, work that had previously been don…
Stipended elder-services volunteers may keep volunteer status after funding ends
A nonprofit social service agency asked whether it could keep treating its elder-services volunteers as volunteers, rather than employees, after the state grant funding their small stipends ended, if …
Students in a disabilities vocational-training placement are not covered employees
A high school asked DLS whether students with developmental disabilities placed at local businesses through its Community Based Vocational Training Program are "employees" covered by the state minimum…
Distinguishing a covered employee from a bona fide volunteer
Given a hypothetical where a worker was pressured into nine months of full-time unpaid "volunteer" work — performing the same duties as paid case managers, under threat that her employer would withdra…
A live-in home health aide is covered by state minimum wage and overtime law regardless of federal exemptions
An employer asked whether Massachusetts minimum wage and overtime law applies to a live-in home health aide caring for an elderly client with multiple health conditions, performing duties like bathing…
A nonprofit's job-readiness construction training program is exempt from the wage law
A registered nonprofit charity asked whether participants in its 10-month job-readiness and construction-skills program — which pairs supervised construction work with GED preparation and pays a flat …
School bus drivers on non-reimbursed charter trips are owed the statutory minimum wage
A school bus company asked what minimum wage applies to drivers on three kinds of charter trips: adult passengers on charters outside the school district, students on trips not approved by the school …
Students in a residential school's vocational training programs aren't covered by the wage law
A private, for-profit residential school for children with emotional or behavioral problems asked whether two of its vocational training programs — a culinary-arts/food-service program and an "on-camp…
The state minimum wage law does not cover municipal employees
A resident forwarded a question through the Attorney General's Office asking whether the state minimum wage law applies to town employees. DLS explained that the Minimum Fair Wage Law's "occupation" d…
State employees' overtime is governed by c. 149, not the minimum wage law
A state agency asked which statute governs overtime for its employees, what the statute of limitations is on a state employee's overtime claim, and whether the agency would face attorney's-fee and tri…
Northeastern co-op students are exempt as trainees, not covered employees
An employer providing physical therapy services asked whether students it employed through Northeastern University's Cooperative Education Program are covered employees or exempt trainees. DLS conclud…
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These are official interpretive documents from Massachusetts's labor agency: opinion letters answering questions from employers and workers, administrative policies, and interpretive notices. They show how the agency applies wage-and-hour and workplace law to real situations, but they are guidance, not statutes or court decisions, and the agency can supersede or withdraw them. Every page above shows the document's current status, when that status was last verified, and a link to the official source.