Source: https://www.nutter.com/trending-newsroom-publications-Proposed-Domestic-Workers-Regulation-Warrants-Scrutiny-04-30-2015
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 02:12:06+00:00

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The AG also posted five templates intended for use with domestic workers. They include a model employment agreement, a model evaluation form, an explanation of relevant federal and state laws to be provided by employers to domestic workers, a sample time sheet to be maintained by employers, and a sample record of other types of information to be maintained by employers for any domestic worker working sixteen or more hours per week.
The AG's actions are part of a significant change in Massachusetts employment law, one that so far has received relatively little publicity. The statute underlying the draft regulation is in effect already.2 A public hearing on the draft regulation will take place on May 8, 2015. The deadline for submitting written comment on the draft is May 15, 2015.
And for reasons explained below, anyone who "hires, pays, or permits" someone else to provide domestic services in a Massachusetts household should review the draft regulation and consider providing the AG with appropriate comment before the draft acquires the force and effect of law.
1. The draft regulation defines "domestic worker" more expansively than the statute on which it purports to be based, and it thus proposes "employer" obligations for a much larger number of individuals, families, and households.
The AG's small business impact statement says that this regulation is mandated by M.G.L. c. 149, § 190. But a word-for-word comparison between the statute and the draft suggests otherwise.
In other words, an individual is a "domestic worker" within the terms of the statute only if his or her vocation is childcare and his or her services for the employer do not "primarily consist of childcare on a casual, intermittent and irregular basis for 1 or more family or household members."
Or to state this key point conversely, an individual "whose vocation is not childcare" cannot be a "domestic worker" within the meaning of the statute under any circumstances, without regard to the amount of housekeeping, house cleaning, home managing, nanny services, caretaking, laundering, cooking, home companionship, or other domestic services he or she provides.
Thus, by strategically adding the five words italicized in the above quotation, the draft regulation stands the statute on its head. The results are a major reduction in the number of workers "excepted" from the "domestic worker" definition, and a corresponding increase in the number of individuals, families, and households who will stand to be regulated by the Commonwealth as "employers."
2. The draft regulation, like the statute, imposes a litany of obligations on anyone classified as an "employer" of a "domestic worker."
Individuals, families, and households classified by the draft regulation as "employers" are facing an abrupt transition. Many will be unaccustomed to the degree of government control that will result. And if they decide to continue as "employers," they almost certainly are going to have to devote more time, money, and attention to the finer details of their relationships with the workers in their homes. As the AG's notice of publication and hearing states, the regulation being proposed is intended not only to clarify the rights of the workers and the related obligations of their employers, but also to outline the AG's authority to investigate violations.
Providing to the AG, upon demand, all required records relating to domestic workers.
3. Either the AG or a "domestic worker" can enforce the litany of "employer" obligations set forth in the draft regulation, and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) can enforce the related prohibition against unlawful discrimination.
Finally, unlawful discrimination claims by "domestic workers" are enforceable by the MCAD.12 Relief from the MCAD can include reinstatement to employment, payment of monetary damages, and award of attorneys' fees. And an employee who brings such a complaint to the MCAD also has the option of proceeding with the claim in court.
Much is at stake with the AG's draft regulation. The contemplated degree of governance is detailed and comprehensive. Interested parties should express any concerns now, before the draft becomes law.
1 The draft regulation is 940 C.M.R. 32.00 (proposed).
2 M.G.L. c. 149, § 190 became effective on April 1, 2015.
3 M.G.L. c. 149, § 190(a); 940 C.M.R. § 32.02 (proposed).
4 M.G.L. c. 149, § 190(a) (emphasis added). A "personal care attendant" is "an individual who provides personal care attendant services to persons with disabilities or seniors under the MassHealth personal care attendant program or any successor program." Id.
5 940 C.M.R. 32.02 (proposed) (emphasis added).
6 940 C.M.R. §§ 32.03 - 32.04 (proposed).
No advance notice or severance payment shall be required where the employer provides a good faith allegation, in writing before or at the time of the termination, with reasonable basis and belief and without reckless disregard or willful ignorance of the truth that the domestic worker has abused, neglected or caused any other harmful conduct against the employer, members of the employer's family or individuals residing in the employer's household.
8 M.G.L. c. 149, § 190(a) provides generally that the definitions of "employer" and "domestic worker" in § 190 will apply as well in § 191, "unless the context clearly requires otherwise." Both sections became effective on April 1, 2015.
9 M.G.L. c. 149, § 191.
10 940 C.M.R. § 32.05(3) (proposed).
11 940 C.M.R. § 32.05(4) (proposed).
12 See M.G.L. c. 149, § 191(c). In addition, there were two related changes in the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA) that became effective September 24, 2014. The FEPA's definition of "employer" now includes "an employer of domestic workers including those covered under section 190 of chapter 149," and its definition of "employee" no longer excludes workers "in domestic service." See M.G.L. c. 151B, §§ 1(5), 1(6).

References: § 190
 § 190
 § 190
 § 32
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 § 190
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 § 191
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