If you are a physician who has just received a job offer, you may be wondering whether the several-page employment contract you have just received is fair. There are many considerations in reviewing a physician employment contract which can impact your day-to-day and your legal rights significantly. Most physician contracts have a notice period of [...]
Last month, Massachusetts State Representatives Josh S. Cutler and Brandy Fluker Oakley filed a bill entitled “An Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency.” The bill, if passed by the Massachusetts Legislature, would do several things: it would require employers with 15 or more employees to share estimated salary ranges on job postings and advertisements; it [...]
In July, Governor Charlie Baker signed the CROWN Act into law, which prohibits discrimination based on natural or protective hairstyles by employers and others. The act is intended to provide protection to Black individuals that wish to wear hairstyles that are historically associated with their race. The law combats the prejudiced notion that natural and [...]
Most companies house a Human Resources (HR) Department to handle employee and office matters. This includes administering benefits, onboarding employees, and planning company events, but also involves handling more severe issues including harassment, discrimination, workplace safety, and more. If you’ve experienced a serious situation at your workplace, filing a complaint with HR may be [...]
Last month, a Superior Court discrimination suit with claims of disparate treatment and hostile work environment survived a motion to dismiss when overtly discriminatory conduct was coupled with more generally harassing conduct that was not clearly religiously-motivated. In Brzuchalski v. Digital Guard, LLC, et al., the Plaintiff, a Jewish man, alleges discrimination by coworkers, which [...]
Non-compete clauses Non-compete clauses restrict your future employment after your employment has ended. Massachusetts law does not allow for these restrictions against certain individuals, and when non-competes are permissible, there are specific requirements that employers must follow to ensure the restrictions are not unreasonable or overly restrictive. Non-solicitation clauses Non-solicitation clauses prevent employees from [...]
The state Personnel Records Act, G.L.c. 149, §52C, provides that employees who disagree with any information placed in their personnel records may submit for the record a written statement explaining their position. The SJC recently held that an at-will employee could bring a wrongful discharge claim in response to being fired after he filed a [...]
Does your job offer require that you sign a non-compete agreement? Only certain employees in Massachusetts can be subject to a non-compete agreement. Employers may not enforce a non-compete agreement against an employee who is classified as nonexempt; an undergraduate or graduate student participating in an internship or short-term employment; employees that have been terminated [...]
What is retaliation? For employees who believe they are being harassed or discriminated against in the workplace, it can be difficult to come forward and report these issues out of fear of retaliation. Workplace retaliation occurs when an employer or supervisor punishes an individual for engaging in a protected activity (i.e. reporting a legal violation [...]
Per EEOC guidance, employers may lawfully mandate that its employees receive COVID-19 vaccinations. However, employers must still make accommodations for employees who refuse to be vaccinated based on (1) the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for bona fide medical concerns with vaccination and (2) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for bona fide religious [...]