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. | 71 • Shift and weekend differentials • On-call pay • Longevity pay (i.e., extra pay for seniority) • Payments for “sold back” benefits, such as sick leave pay, if the sale is during employment rather than a benefit paid upon termination of employment • Travel and employee lunch or meal expenses paid by the employer, unless the expenses are incurred for the employer’s benefit (e.g., meals provided to employees while working late or meal expenses provided to employees while out of town on business) • Annual lump sum payments to employees working unfavorable schedules • Supplemental disability payments made to partially disabled employees when reassigned to lower wage jobs • Certain stock option compensation • Safety, incentive, productivity, attendance, and merit bonuses, unless the bonus is completely discretionary • Certain premium payments made by employers for work in excess of or outside of specified daily or weekly standard work periods or on certain special days 408 2. Compensation Excluded from the Calculation of the Regular Rate of Pay Under Federal Law Federal law specifically excludes the following from the calculation of an employee’s regular rate of pay: • Sums paid as gifts, including Christmas gifts, that are not regular and expected • Pay for certain idle hours (e.g., holidays, vacation, illness, bereavement, jury duty, and disaster relief) • Reimbursement for expenses • Purely discretionary bonuses • Severance pay 408 29 U.S.C. § 207(e); 29 C.F.R. §§ 778.200-778.225.