Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Massachusetts Establishes The Parental Leave Act

A new piece of Massachusetts legislation similar to Maternity Leave was signed into law in earlier this month. The new “Parental Leave Act” will become effective on April 7, 2015 and will allow both males AND females who work for a company with more than 6 employees to take an 8 week job-protected leave for the birth, adoption, or placement by a court order of a child.

This time off can be paid or unpaid depending on the employer’s policies and must be available to utilize after the employee has been employed at the company for 90 days. If feasible, the employee should inform their employer at least two weeks in advance of their intended parental leave.

However, in the event that the mother and father both work for the same company, the employees would have 8 weeks to split between each other.


Employees must be informed of the addition of this act to their company’s leave policies. This can be done via a written notice or by a posting an announcement in a common work area. If you need help developing a notice or adjusting your employee handbooks, please feel free to contact Ipswich Bay Advisors.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Massachusetts Minimum Wage Increase Reminder

This is a reminder that on January 1, 2015 the Massachusetts minimum wage was raised by a dollar, from $8 to $9 an hour for eligible employees.

Employees who are not eligible for the wage increase to $9/hour are those who are:

v  Being rehabilitated in an educational, religious, or non-profit organization
v  Service industry workers (their minimum wage increased to $3/hour on January 1, 2015)
v  Members of religious orders
v  Agricultural workers (their minimum wage increased to $8/hour on January 1, 2015)
v  Outside sales reps who do not travel to their office daily

There will be a dollar increase to the minimum wage for eligible employees every year on January 1st until 2017. Service industry workers will also see an increase every year in their hourly wage until 2017. These increases are illustrated in the charts below:
                               
Minimum Wage Increases
for Eligible Employees
Year
Hourly Rate
2015
$9.00
2016
$10.00
2017
$11.00
Service Industry Wage Increases
Year
Hourly Rate
2015
$3.00
2016
$3.35
2017
$3.75











It is important that employers abide by these wage laws or they risk facing civil and criminal charges. If you have any questions about the recent wage changes, please contact Ipswich Bay Advisors at 978-777-6554.


Thank You.