Good news for municipal employers. Although the Massachusetts minimum wage increased to $9.00 an hour on January 1, 2015, the law has been interpreted not to apply to public employees. The increase, which is the first minimum wage increase in the state since 2008, is one of three annual increases that will raise the minimum wage to $11.00 an hour over the next three years. While the law purports to apply to all but a few groups of employees (G.L. c. 151, §§1 and 2), Massachusetts case law and a pair of Opinion Letters from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD) have determined that G.L. c. 151, the state’s minimum wage law, does not apply to public employees.
In Grenier v. Town of Hubbardston, 7 Mass.App.Ct. 911 (rescript 1979), the Appeals Court upheld a superior court decision that the plaintiff firefighters were not entitled to recover the difference between their hourly rate of 50 cents and the state’s minimum wage rate in effect at the time. The Court determined that the firefighters’ claim “falls within the rule that statutes regulating persons and corporations engaged in trade and industry are ordinarily construed not to apply to the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions unless the Legislature has expressly or by clear implication so provided.” Id. at 911. The Court’s decision is reinforced by two EOLWD Opinion Letters which reference the Court’s decision and opine that the Legislature has evidenced a clear intent to treat municipal employees differently by enacting a series of statutes that deal with wage and hour rules for municipal employees: G.L. c. 41, §108A, provides the option to establish a minimum wage plan; G.L. c. 40, §21A, provides the ability to establish hours, days, and weeks of work and leave periods including sick, vacation and holiday; and G.L. c. 149, §§33A-33C, governs overtime for municipal employees.
According to EOLWD, “
Contact CL&P if you have questions about the minimum wage law or wage and hour compliance.
