Final paycheck timing — involuntary discharge vs. voluntary separation
Massachusetts requires employers to pay discharged employees in full on the day of discharge. Employees who voluntarily leave their employment must be paid in full on the following regular pay day or, if there is no regular pay day, on the following Saturday. The statute defines "wages" to include "any holiday or vacation payments due an employee under an oral or written agreement," so accrued but unused vacation time must be included in the final paycheck and paid according to the same timing rules. The Wage Act imposes strict liability for late payment. Even one-day delays trigger mandatory treble damages, attorneys' fees, and costs under M.G.L. c. 149, § 150, regardless of the employer's intent or whether payment is made before a lawsuit is filed.
Source: M.G.L. c. 149, § 148 | M.G.L. c. 149, § 150
Plant closing notification — federal WARN Act applies; state law unfunded
Massachusetts employers facing mass layoffs or plant closings must comply with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires covered employers to provide 60 days' advance written notice before ordering a plant closing or mass layoff. Under 29 U.S.C. § 2102(a), the notice must go to affected employees (or their union representatives), the state dislocated worker unit, and the chief elected official of the relevant local government. The federal WARN Act applies to employers with 100 or more full-time employees (or 100 employees who work a combined 4,000 hours per week), excluding part-time workers and those employed fewer than six of the preceding twelve months.
Federal WARN triggers
The 60-day notice requirement is triggered by:
- Plant closing — A shutdown of a single site of employment or operating unit that results in an employment loss for at least 50 full-time employees during any 30-day period.
- Mass layoff — An employment loss at a single site during any 30-day period for (1) at least 500 employees, or (2) 50–499 employees if they constitute at least 33% of the employer's active workforce at that site.
Under 29 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(6), "employment loss" means termination (other than for cause, voluntary departure, or retirement), a layoff exceeding six months, or a reduction in hours of more than 50% in each month of any six-month period.
Federal WARN exceptions
The 60-day notice period may be reduced under three narrow exceptions set forth in 29 U.S.C. § 2102(b): (1) the faltering-company exception, which applies solely to plant closings and requires the employer to show it was actively seeking capital or business that, if obtained, would have avoided the shutdown and that giving notice would have precluded obtaining that capital; (2) the unforeseeable-business-circumstances exception, applicable to plant closings and mass layoffs caused by business circumstances not reasonably foreseeable as of the time notice would have been required; and (3) the natural-disaster exception, covering closings and layoffs due to floods, earthquakes, storms, or similar events.
Massachusetts Plant Closing Law — unfunded and unenforced
Massachusetts has a separate plant-closing statute, M.G.L. c. 151A, §§ 71A–71G. Under § 71B(a), every employer closing a "facility" (defined in § 71A as a plant, factory, commercial business, hospital, or other place of employment with 50 or more employees during any month in the six months prior to certification) must "promptly report" the closing to the commissioner of the department of career services. The commissioner then certifies whether a plant closing has occurred or will occur if at least 90% of the facility's employees have been or will be permanently separated within a six-month period.
The statute provides for reemployment assistance benefits and health insurance continuation under §§ 71F and 71G, subject to appropriation. However, the Massachusetts Plant Closing Law is not funded, and enforcement of its provisions is suspended. As a result, the state law imposes no practical obligations on employers beyond the federal WARN Act requirements. Employers with facilities in Massachusetts should comply with federal WARN to avoid liability for back pay and benefits (up to 60 days per affected employee), attorneys' fees, and civil penalties under 29 U.S.C. § 2104.
Source: 29 U.S.C. § 2102) | M.G.L. c. 151A, § 71A | M.G.L. c. 151A, § 71B