Mass-Peculiarities: An Employers Guide to Wage & Hour Law in the Bay State 2022 Edition

© 2022 Seyfarth Shaw LLP Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2022 ed. | 169 To file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General, an employee must complete a complaint form. 1007 The complaint form must include the following information: the employer’s name and complete address; the type of work performed; the employee’s rate of pay; the reason(s) for the complaint; the amount of wages owed; the dates of work for which the employee is owed wages; and details regarding the complaint. 1008 The employee may bring a private action against the employer ninety days after complaining to the Attorney General. 1009 The employee may sue sooner if he or she receives written permission from the Attorney General. 1010 The complaint form permits an employee to indicate that he or she wishes to sue privately, which will cause the Attorney General’s Office to issue a right to sue letter without any further investigation. 1011 However, as discussed in the preceding section, the failure to first file a complaint with the Attorney General is not a jurisdictional bar to a private lawsuit. B. The Attorney General’s Investigatory Procedure The Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General may take several weeks or longer to process a complaint. 1012 Following receipt of a complaint, the Attorney General notifies the employer of the allegations. 1013 Pursuant to the Attorney General’s authority to investigate wage complaints and ensure compliance with the laws, the Attorney General may conduct work site inspections. 1014 These inspections can be conducted without prior notice. During a site inspection, the Attorney General’s representative typically carries business cards or an identification badge to display upon request, and should answer general questions about the nature of the investigation whenever possible. 1015 The site inspector may also take notes, carry a voice recorder, and use a camera to document work conditions. 1016 He or she is likely to interview employees on-site, hand out questionnaires for completion on-site or after work, and 1007 Id. 1008 Id. 1009 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 150. 1010 Id . 1011 Office of the Massachuset t s At torney General, File a Workplace Complaint , available a t ht tps://www.mass.gov/how-to/file-a- workplace-complaint (last visited Sept . 28, 2021). 1012 Id. 1013 Id . 1014 For example, the Fair Labor Division conducted 165 site visit s in fiscal year 2019. See, e.g. , At torneyGeneral Maura Healey’s 2019 Labor Day Report , available a t ht tps://www.mass.gov/doc/ags-labor-day-report -2019/download ( last visited on Sept . 28, 2021). 1015 See Office of the Massachuset t s At torney General, Fair Labor Division, Fair Labor Site Inspections [undated internal document ] (hereinafter, “ Fair Labor Site Inspections ”) on file with authors. This document lays out general guidelines for conduct ing site inspect ions, but the At torneyGeneral’s Office explicit ly reserves the right to “exercise it s statutory authority as it deems necessary.” 1016 Id .