SJC Blog

On August 31, 2011, the SJC held that an employer may not use a system of customer accounts receivable financing to pay its employee at the time the customer pays the employer for the employee’s work rather than when the work is performed; and that under the Massachusetts Wage Act, G. L. c. 149, §§ 148, 150 (Wage Act), an employer and an employee may not agree that the employee will pay the cost of workers’ compensation and other work-related insurance coverage. The Court concluded that the accounts receivable financing system at issue improperly defers payment of the employee’s earned wages, and that an employer may not deduct the insurance costs from an employee’s earned wages. The Court also addressed the question whether employer may deduct “franchise fees” from such wages, and conclude that the Wage Act forbids the deductions. Read Awuah v. Coverall.

On August 31, 2011, the SJC addressed the issue of whether a 2008 amendment to the enforcement section of the Massachusetts Wage Act, G.L. c. 149, § 150 (§ 150), providing for a mandatory award of treble damages to a prevailing employee, should be applied in an action brought by an employee against her employer for violation of the Wage Act before the amendment’s effective date. The Court concluded that the amendment should be read to apply only prospectively, to claims arising on or after the amendment’s effective date of July 12, 2008. Read Rosnov v. Malloy.

Connors v. Annino, decided October 26, 2011, holds that a person on actual notice of the issuance of a building permit must appeal of the permit within 30 days of its issuance pursuant to M.G.L. c. 40A, § 15.