Massachusetts law contains special requirements as to when employers must pay departing employees. M.G.L. ch. 149 § 148.  Resigning employees must receive their final paycheck no later than the following regular pay day.  Terminated employees must receive their final paycheck on the day of discharge. 

Massachusetts law also provides that employees are entitled to three times the amount of damages resulting from an employer’s violation of the Wage Act.  Until recently, lower courts were not in unison as to whether employers must pay triple damages for late paid wages where the employee had not filed a lawsuit prior to being paid. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently resolved this dispute in favor of employees.

Does My Massachusetts Employer Have to Pay Me Triple Damages for Wages Paid Late Even If I Have Not Filed a Complaint?

Yes.  In the case of Reuter v. City of Methuen, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that employers are liable for triple damages for late-paid wages even if those wages are paid prior to an employee filing suit. 

In that case, the employer failed to pay the employee’s accrued vacation time on the date she was fired and, instead, paid her three weeks after the fact.  (Click here for more information on vacation pay and the Wage Act).  The employee filed suit after she was paid and sought triple damages.  Ultimately, the SJC took her side and ordered the employer to pay her triple damages even though it had paid her before she filed suit.

I was glad to see that the SJC specifically addressed the reality of late-paid wages and how they impact employees while explaining the purpose of the penalty:

…a late-paid worker can face consequences so detrimental to maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency and general well-being of workers . . . that [treble] payment must be made in the event of delay in order to insure restoration of the worker to that minimum standard of well-being.

Kudos to the SJC for taking the time to understand and explain that to many employees late-paid wages often means unpaid rent and unfed kids and for upholding an employee’s unconditional right to triple damages.

If you are an employee with questions about late paid wages, contact employment lawyer Benjamin Steffans for a free consultation.