Massachusetts Overtime Laws

Time-and-a-half after 40 hours in a workweek for covered employees is the practical starting point for most covered, nonexempt employees.

Overtime is calculated by workweek, not by pay period. An employer cannot average a long week and a short week together to avoid overtime that was earned in the long week.

How this differs from federal law: The weekly trigger usually matches the FLSA, but Massachusetts has its own list of state overtime exclusions. A state exclusion does not end the inquiry because federal overtime may still protect the worker.

Massachusetts exempts certain jobs from its state overtime law, including restaurant work and some seasonal employment. Those workers must still be checked under the FLSA because the federal exemptions are not identical.

The general rule does not fit every worker or workplace. These points are especially important in Massachusetts:

• -Massachusetts eliminated the general Sunday and holiday premium-pay requirement on January 1, 2023. Weekend or holiday work can still create overtime when total hours exceed 40.
• -Blue Laws still regulate when some retail, non-retail and manufacturing businesses may operate and when work must be voluntary, even though they no longer create a general premium-pay rate.
• -Restaurant employees are excluded from the state overtime statute, but many remain entitled to federal overtime after 40 hours.

Under the FLSA, hours worked include time the employer requires or permits an employee to spend working. That can include required preparation, certain training or travel, and work performed before clocking in or after clocking out.

Paid vacation, holidays and sick leave usually are not hours actually worked for the federal 40-hour calculation. A contract, policy or state-specific rule can be more generous.

The workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours. It does not have to run Monday through Sunday, but it cannot be changed from week to week to avoid overtime.

Being paid a salary does not automatically remove an employee's right to overtime.

Common executive, administrative and professional exemptions depend on the employee's real job duties and the applicable pay-basis requirements. A title such as "manager" does not settle the question.

State exemption tests can differ from federal tests. Employers should apply every law that covers the work rather than relying only on payroll method or title.

An employer may require advance approval before overtime is worked. Even so, covered work must be paid when the employer required it, allowed it, or knew or should have known it was happening.

The employer may address a violation of its scheduling policy separately, but it cannot accept compensable work and then erase the hours from payroll.