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

72 | Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2022 ed. © 2022 Seyfarth Shaw LLP • Death benefits • Reasonable uniform allowances • Tuition reimbursement • Call-in and call-back guarantees for hours in excess of hours actually worked • Employer contributions to bona fide profit sharing plans • Exercised stock option grants • Employer-paid disability benefits, medical care, retirement benefits, workers’ compensation, and other employer-paid health and welfare contributions, including insurance premiums • Overtime premium payments 409 3. Additional Compensation Excluded from the Calculation of the Regular Rate of Pay Under Massachusetts Law Massachusetts law specifically excludes from the regular rate of pay everything that is excluded under federal law, plus some additional types of remuneration. The applicable Massachusetts statute provides that the regular hourly rate shall exclude sums paid as: • Commissions • Drawing accounts • Bonuses • Other incentive pay based on sales or productio n 410 4. Determining Whether to Apply the Massachusetts or Federal Calculation of the Regular Rate The regular rate for most hourly employees and many salaried non-exempt employees will be the same under Massachusetts and federal law. However, for some employees, such as commissioned employees, the Massachusetts regular rate will be less than the federal rate because of the additional exclusions allowed under Massachusetts law. To determine whether to apply the state or federal regular rate calculation for a specific employee, an employer must first determine 409 29 U.S.C. § 207(e); 29 C.F.R. §§ 778.200-778.225. 410 M.G.L. ch. 151, § 1A.