News about current legislation affecting workplace rights before the U.S. Congress and the legislatures of all 50 states.
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No Individual Liability under Title VII, First Circuit Rules
Date: April 9, 2009
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston has ruled that supervisors may not be held individually liable for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Fantini v. Salem State College, No. 07-2026 (1st Cir. Feb. 23, 2009). Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Although Title VII's definition of "employer" includes "any agent" of an employer, the Court found that Congress did not intend to impose individual liability; rather, Congress meant only "to import respondeat superior liability into Title VII." In so ruling, the Court joined the Courts of Appeals for the nine other Circuits in holding that individuals may not be held liable under Title VII. (The First Circuit has jurisdiction over Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island.)
Overhaul to toughen state child labor laws
Source: Diane E. Lewis, Boston Globe
Date: July 20, 2006
The Massachusetts Legislature is set to tighten child labor laws this month, the
first comprehensive overhaul of the rules to protect working youths in 70 years. Currently, the state's child
labor laws call for a maximum fine of just $50 for a first offense by an employer, and a month in jail. The new
measure was crafted with the help of a group of teens who wanted to bring the laws into the 21st century.
Nationwide, 70,000 US teens are injured on the job annually.
Source: Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press, Exeter News-Letter
Date: May 30, 2006
The state's lowest paid workers could soon be taking home a fatter paycheck. The
Massachusetts Senate on Thursday unanimously backed a plan to raise the state's minimum hourly wage by $1.50
over the next two years. The minimum wage is currently $6.75 an hour. Under the plan, the wage would increase
to $7.50 per hour in September and $8.25 in 2007. Starting in 2008, future hikes in the minimum wage would be
automatically linked to increases in the rate of inflation. The plan also guarantees Massachusetts' minimum
wage will always be at least 10 cents higher than the federal minimum. The Massachusetts House is expected to
debate the minimum wage in June.
Paid-leave proposals gain steam
Source: Sara Miller Llana, Christian Science Monitor
Date: May 15, 2006
Massachusetts is considering [a] landmark proposal that would give workers here the nation's most generous
paid leave policy. The bill would pay workers their full salary (up to $750 a week) for up to 12 weeks to care
for newborns or ill family members. Twenty-six other states considered some form of paid leave in their 2005
legislative sessions. California's 2004 program is currently the nation's most comprehensive. Experts say the
issue is gaining traction because it attempts to ease the difficulty many Americans face trying to balance work
and family. A Harvard University report showed that of 168 countries studied, the United States is one of just
five that don't offer some form of paid leave to women in connection with childbirth.
Massachusetts sets health plan for nearly all
Source: Pam Belluck, New York Times
Date: April 5, 2006
Massachusetts is poised
to become the first state to provide nearly universal health care coverage with a bill passed overwhelmingly by
the legislature Tuesday that Gov. Mitt Romney says he will sign. The bill does what health experts say no other
state has been able to do: provide a mechanism for all of its citizens to obtain health insurance. It
accomplishes that in a way that experts say combines methods and proposals from across the political spectrum,
apportioning the cost among businesses, individuals and the government. The bill creates a sliding scale of
affordability ranging from people who can afford insurance outright to those who cannot afford it at all.
Support builds for minimum wage hike
Source: Scott S. Greenberger, Boston Globe
Date: December 9, 2004
Union leaders and advocates for the poor are uniting behind an effort to raise
the state's $6.75-an-hour minimum wage for the first time since 2001 and to tie future increases to the
inflation rate, a move that would make Massachusetts only the fourth state in the nation to establish that
link. The Legislature last approved an increase in 1999, voting to raise the hourly minimum wage from $5.25 to
$6 starting in 2000 and from $6 to $6.75 in 2001. Bills pending in both the House and the Senate would raise
the hourly minimum wage to $7.50 in 2006 and $8.25 in 2007 and connect future increases to annual inflation
increases.
Workplace smoking ban passes House, awaits Senate
Source: Boston Business Journal
Date: June 1, 2004
Massachusetts is on the verge of getting a new law that would ban smoking from most workplaces throughout the
state. The House of Representatives passed a compromise workplace-wide smoking ban June 1 that would only
exempt private clubs, cigar bars, retail tobacco stores, hotel and motel smoking rooms and sections of nursing
homes. The bill is the product of months of state House/Senate conference committee negotiations. The Senate is
expected to approve the bill later this week.
Smoke-Free Workplaces Closer To Reality In Mass.
Source: The Boston Channel
Date: November 20, 2003
The Senate voted to
extinguish smoking in workplaces statewide Wednesday, joining the House in endorsing the concept of making
dining and bar-hopping a smoke-free experience in Massachusetts. With time running out on the 2003 session,
however, it is unlikely that the Legislature will be able to work out a compromise between the House and Senate
versions of the bill until it returns from a holiday recess in January. Gov. Mitt Romney has not yet revealed
whether he would sign the bill into law once it reaches his desk. Both chambers, however, approved the bill by
a veto-proof majority. If signed into law, Massachusetts would join at least five other states in banning
smoking in the workplace. Boston recently imposed a smoking ban, prompting calls for a statewide law to level
the playing field for businesses.
Senate Debates Workplace Smoking Ban
Source: Associated Press, The Boston Channel
Date: November 18, 2003
Senate Democrats gave strong support Monday to a statewide ban on workplace smoking, although it may not reach
Gov. Mitt Romney's desk until January. The Senate was expected to continue debate Tuesday on the bill, which
would make Massachusetts the sixth state in the nation to ban smoking in the workplace, including most bars and
restaurants. The legislative session ends Wednesday, however, so if the Senate passes a bill that is
significantly different than the House version, there may not be enough time this week for the two chambers to
agree on a compromise bill. The bill, which the House passed last month, would extend the state's workplace
ban to all restaurants, nightclubs and bars, as well as auditoriums, conference rooms, offices, elevators,
hallways, cafeterias, employee lounges, restrooms and staircases. It would take effect in July.
Workplace Ban on Smoking Pushed Statewide
Source: Erik Arvidson, North Adams Transcript
Date: September 18, 2003
Legislators and public health advocates pressed the case Wednesday for a statewide smoking ban in
all workplaces, saying that the overwhelming number of smoke-free cities and towns has compelled the state to
act. Supporters of a smoking ban are hoping to keep the issue at the top of the legislative agenda this fall,
and are confident that both the House and Senate will take up the legislation in formal sessions in the coming
months.
