Amendment ID: S2416-18

Amendment 18

On-Call & Reporting Pay

Mr. Donnelly moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

SECTION XX.  Chapter 149 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition,  is hereby further amended by inserting after section 148D the following section:-

Section 148E.  (a) The following words, as used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, shall have the following meanings:—

“Employee”, any individual employed by an employer, excluding those employees contained in chapter 151, section 1A, subsection 3, and including employees employed through the services of a temporary services or staffing agency, or a cleaning or security services contractor.

“Employer”, an individual, corporation, partnership or other entity, including any agent thereof that employs an employee or employees for wages, remuneration or other compensation.

“On-call shift”, the time that an employer requires an employee to be available for a work shift, and to contact the employer or its designee or wait to be contacted by the employer or its designee to determine whether the employee must report for that shift.

“Shift”, the consecutive hours an employer requires an employee to work, provided that a break of one hour or less shall not be considered an interruption of consecutive hours.

“Work schedule”, all of an employee’s regular and on-call shifts during a consecutive 7-day period.

(b) When an employee who is scheduled to work three or more hours reports for duty at the time set by the employer, and that employee is not provided with the expected hours of work, the employee shall be paid for at least three hours on such day at no less than the basic minimum wage.

(c) An employer shall provide an employee with the following compensation for each on-call shift for which the employee is required to be available but not called into work:

(1) two hours of pay at the employee’s regular hourly rate for each on-call shift of four hours or less or,

(2) four hours of pay at the employee’s regular hourly rate for each on-call shift of more than four hours.

(d) The requirements of subsections (b) and (c) shall not apply under any of the following circumstances:

(1) operations cannot begin or continue due to threats to employees or property, or when public authorities recommend that work not begin or continue;

(2) operations cannot begin or continue because public utilities fail to supply electricity, water, or gas, or there is a failure in the public utilities or sewer system; or

(3) operations cannot begin or continue due to an act of God or other cause not within the control of the employer, including, but not limited to, a major weather event, natural disaster, or a state of emergency declared by a local government or the governor.

(e) Violations for non-payment of wages defined in this section shall be subject to section 150, 27(c), and 148(a) of this chapter.

(f) The attorney general shall have power to enforce this section through injunctive or declaratory relief.