Press & News

Richard Alfred Quoted in The Boston Globe "Pay Violations Will Trigger New Penalties"
04/15/2008

Richard Alfred was quoted in the article, "Pay Violations Will Trigger New Penalties," published in The Boston Globe on April 15, 2008. The article reports on Massachusetts Bill S. 1059 becoming law, which automatically mandates treble damages to employers who are found to have violated wage-and-hour laws regardless of whether the employer acted in good faith or not.

Noting that the law was “very ill-conceived,” Richard stated that the law is “bad for business in Massachusetts, it's bad policy, and it's not consistent with the governor and the Legislature's efforts to promote business…. Ultimately, it's going to hurt the working people of the state because this is going to be a disincentive for businesses to locate here and to expand."

Richard explained that a complicated network of state and federal laws is often interpreted in conflicting ways by employers, lawyers, and government agencies. He gave the example of professional, executive, and administrative employees who are exempt from overtime pay, but interpretations differ as to what jobs fall into those categories. Because of these complexities, Richard said that companies that mistakenly classify employees should not be automatically subjected to triple damages. With triple damages guaranteed for victorious plaintiffs in wage-and-hour cases, Richard noted, “There is predictably going to be a large influx of litigation here, aimed at Massachusetts employers, who will then be put in the very difficult position of being second-guessed on good-faith decisions where sound minds and very reasonable, rational people would differ as to the result."