The Most Common Mistake Massachusetts Employers Make During Layoffs

If you’ve just been terminated, you probably have a hundred things on your mind: COBRA coverage, your next job, how to tell your family. But there’s one issue many employers—even large, sophisticated ones—get wrong: your final paycheck.

Don’t get distracted by next steps before making sure that you’re paid what you’re owed. Here in the Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Wage Act (M.G.L. c. 149, § 148) ensures that you’re paid in full and on time—or else.

The “Day-Of” Rule

Under Massachusetts law, if you are fired or laid off, your employer is required by law to pay you your wages in full on the day of your termination. “In full” includes:

• Every hour of wages earned up to the minute of firing;

• All commissions that are “definitely determined, and due and payable;”

• All accrued, unused vacation time;

• Promised holiday pay;

• Earned and unpaid tips;

• Other earned and unpaid compensation (fact-specific).
  

Even if your employer pays out one category of wages at the correct time, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve fully complied with the law (vacation pay tends to fall through the cracks). A quick conversation with an attorney can help ensure you’re walking away with everything you’re owed.

Regular Wages Paid Regularly

Even if your job isn’t terminated, the Wage Act ensures that you are getting paid on time. Your employer must ensure you have been paid within 6 or 7 days of the end of the regular pay period (depending on how much you worked during that pay period), or else the Wage Act’s penalties apply.

And those penalties are designed to hurt employers.

The Power of “Treble Damages”

Even if your employer misses the applicable deadline by a day, the consequences under the Wage Act come to bear.

Massachusetts is one of the few states that mandates treble damages in this scenario. This means that if an employer violates the Wage Act, a court must award the employee three times the amount of the unpaid wages, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.

For example, if you had to be paid $1,000 no later than, say, March 4, and you were paid that $1,000 on March 5, you would be owed an additional $2,000.

There is no “good faith” exception. It doesn’t matter if the payroll software glitched or the HR manager forgot. If the payment is late, the violation has occurred.

Red Flags to Watch For

If you’ve been terminated, watch out for these common employer mistakes:

1. The “Waiting for the Laptop” Tactic: An employer cannot legally withhold your final paycheck until you return company property (like a laptop or badge).
   

2. The “Next Pay Cycle” Excuse: Telling you that you’ll receive your final pay on the regular company payday is a violation if that day is after your termination date.
   

3. Missing Vacation Pay: Many employers try to claim their “policy” says they don't pay out vacation. In Massachusetts, state law overrides company policy.

What Should You Do?

If you didn’t receive your full pay on your last day, don’t wait—Wage Act claims are time-sensitive. Contact the Law Offices of Sebastian P. Clarkin, PLLC for a free consultation. It’s your money. Don’t leave it on the table.