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

174 | Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2022 ed. © 2022 Seyfarth Shaw LLP Employers that commit non-willful violations are barred for six months from the date of conviction for a first offense or three years from the date of conviction for a subsequent offense. 1041 Public contractors and their affiliates similarly are automatically debarred for two years upon receipt of three civil citations that include a finding of intent on three occasions within a three-year period. 1042 Further, a public contractor or subcontractor will be barred from contracting with the Commonwealth or from performing any work under an existing contract if the contractor fails to comply with a civil citation or order. 1043 D. The Attorney General’s Means of Enforcement When an employer receives a civil citation or order from the Attorney General, the employer then has twenty-one days to comply. 1044 The employer may appeal to the Massachusetts Division of Administrative Law Appeals within ten days and will then receive a hearing at which it must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the Attorney General erred in issuing the citation or order. 1045 If the hearing officer affirms the citation or order, the employer must either comply within thirty days or appeal to the Superior Court. 1046 If the employer does not pursue an appeal but also fails to comply with the citation or order in a timely manner, the Attorney General may file criminal charges against the company or certain individuals, or both. 1047 The Attorney General may also add interest at a rate of 18 percent per annum and place a tax lien on the employer’s real estate and personal property. 1048 The tax lien takes effect on the day after the payment was due. 1049 To remove a tax lien, an employer must pay the full amount of the penalty, plus interest, to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. 1050 E. Massachusetts Wage and Hour Class Actions It has become increasingly common in recent years for plaintiffs in wage cases to assert their claims on a class action basis. 1051 In a class action, the named plaintiff undertakes to act as the representative for a group of other individuals who share the same claim. Once a court certifies a 1041 Id. 1042 Id . 1043 Id. 1044 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 27C(b)(6) (At torney General may deliver citat ions and orders by mail or by hand delivery). 1045 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 27C(b)(4). 1046 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 27C(b)(4) and (5) . 1047 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 27C(b)(6). 1048 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 27C(b)(7). 1049 Id. 1050 Office of Massachuset t s At torney General, Enforcement Authority , available a t ht tps://www.mass.gov/service- details/enforcement -authority (last visited on Sept . 28, 2021). 1051 This book is not intended to discuss this subject in detail. For an in-depth discussion of this subject , see Seyfarth Shaw’s Wage & Hour Lit igat ion Pract ice Group’s t reat ise Wage & Hour Collective and Class Litigation (Law Journal Press 2012, last updated 2018).