reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151c - Fair Educational Practices › Section 2 - Unfair Practices

Section 2. It shall be an unfair educational practice for an educational institution:—
(a) To exclude or limit or otherwise discriminate against any United States citizen or citizens seeking admission as students to such institution because of race, religion, creed, color or national origin.
(b) To penalize any of its employees or students or any applicant for admission because he has testified, participated or assisted in any proceeding under this section.
(c) To cause to be made any written or oral inquiry concerning the race, religion, color or national origin of a person seeking admission, except that a religious or denominational educational institution which certified to the commission that it is a religious or denominational educational institution may inquire as to the religious or denominational affiliations of applicants for admission.
(d) To exclude, limit or otherwise discriminate against any person seeking admission to a program or course of study leading to a degree, beyond a bachelor's degree, because of race, religion, creed, color, age, sex or national origin, or to so discriminate against any student admitted to such program or course of study in providing benefits, privileges and placement services.
(e) To exclude from admission any student because said student is blind or deaf or requires the use of a dog guide.
(f) To request any information, to make or keep a record of such information, to use any form of application or application blank which requests information or to exclude or limit or otherwise discriminate against any person by reason of his or her failure to furnish information through a written application or oral inquiry or otherwise regarding: (i) an arrest, detention, or disposition regarding any violation of the law in which no conviction resulted or in which a conviction has been vacated, or (ii) a first conviction for any of the following misdemeanors: drunkenness, simple assault, speeding, minor traffic violations, affray or disturbance of the peace, or (iii) any conviction of a misdemeanor where such conviction occurred more than five years prior to the date of such application for admission, unless the applicant was sentenced to imprisonment upon conviction of such misdemeanor, or such individual has been convicted of any offense within the five years' period.
(g) To sexually harass students in any program or course of study in any educational institution.
This section is not intended to limit or prevent an educational institution from using any criteria other than race, religion, creed, sex, color or national origin in the admission of students.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151c - Fair Educational Practices › Section 2a - Vocational Training Institutions; Unfair Practices

Section 2A. It shall be an unfair educational practice for a vocational training institution:—
(a) To exclude or limit or otherwise discriminate against any person or persons seeking admission as students to such institution, course, or course of study because of race, religion, creed, color, age, sex or national origin.
(b) To discriminate against any student in providing the benefits, privileges, and placement services associated with such institution, course, or course of study because of race, religion, creed, color, age, sex or national origin.
(c) To penalize any of its employees or students or any applicant for admission because he or she has testified, participated or assisted in any proceeding under this section.
(d) To cause to be made any written or oral inquiry concerning the race, religion, creed, color, age, sex or national origin of a person seeking admission, except that a religious or denominational educational institution which certified to the commission that it is a religious or denominational educational institution may inquire as to the religious or denominational affiliations of applicants for admission.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151c - Fair Educational Practices › Section 2b - Absence of Student Due to Religious Beliefs

Section 2B. Any student in an educational or vocational training institution, other than a religious or denominational educational or vocational training institution, who is unable, because of his religious beliefs, to attend classes or to participate in any examination, study, or work requirement on a particular day shall be excused from any such examination or study or work requirement, and shall be provided with an opportunity to make up such examination, study, or work requirement which he may have missed because of such absence on any particular day; provided, however, that such makeup examination or work shall not create an unreasonable burden upon such school. No fees of any kind shall be charged by the institution for making available to the said student such opportunity. No adverse or prejudicial effects shall result to any student because of his availing himself of the provisions of this section.
A copy of this section shall be published by each institution of higher education in the catalog of such institution containing the list of available courses.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151c - Fair Educational Practices › Section 4 - Review of Commission's Order; Court Order for Enforcement; Proceedings; Jurisdiction; Appeals

Section 4. (a) Any party aggrieved by a final order of the commission may obtain a judicial review thereof, and the commission may obtain an order of the court for the enforcement thereof by a proceeding described in this section. Such proceeding shall be brought in the superior court within the county wherein any respondent is located.
(b) Upon the filing of a bill of complaint and the service of said bill, the court shall have equitable jurisdiction of the proceeding and of the questions determined therein. Thereupon the commission shall file with the court a transcript of the record of the hearing. The court after hearing and argument shall have power to make and enter upon such record an order annulling or confirming wholly or partly, or modifying the determination reviewed, as to any or all of the parties, and directing appropriate action by any party to the proceeding.
(c) The decision of the commission shall be reviewed in accordance with the standards for review provided in paragraph (8) of section fourteen of chapter thirty A.
(d) The jurisdiction of the superior court shall be exclusive and its judgment and order shall be final, subject to review by the supreme judicial court, upon appeal by the commission or any party to the proceedings, in the same manner provided by general law for appeal from the equity jurisdiction of the superior court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151c - Fair Educational Practices › Section 5 - Regulations of Commission

Section 5. The commission shall have the power, after public hearing, to adopt, promulgate, amend or rescind rules and regulations concerning proceedings at hearings and other investigations under this chapter, which rules and regulations shall be not inconsistent with the provisions of said chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 2 - Registration of Trusts, Funds or Plans; Form, etc.; Approval; Filing; Time; Proceedings; Venue; Violations; Penalties

Section 2. The trustees or plan administrators of all trusts, funds, pension plans, combination plans or profit-sharing retirement plans, which provide benefits for participants within the commonwealth, shall register such trusts, funds or plans with the board in accordance with the provisions of this section within ninety days after such trust or plan becomes subject to the provisions of this chapter.
The registration shall be in the form prescribed by the board and shall include certified copies of the trust indentures, contracts, corporate by-laws and any and all other documents creating or relating to the organization and operation of such trust or funds. If such documents in their entirety, in the opinion of the board, make adequate provision for the investment and operation of the trusts, the interests of the beneficiaries thereof, for the accounting for such trusts, or where applicable the protection of the contractual rights of the parties to the insurance contracts which constitute the fund, it shall approve them, except that trustees or plan administrator or such other officers as it shall deem necessary shall file bonds or deposit security for the faithful performance of their duties, in such manner and in such amounts as it shall determine. If the board shall not issue notice of disapproval within sixty days of filing the plan shall be deemed approved. If it shall disapprove any such documents in whole or in part the trustees or plan administrator of such fund shall have thirty days to file amendments. If after such opportunity for amendment, the board shall still not approve, the trustees or plan administrators may file a petition in equity in the probate court for the county in which the trust or fund has its principal place of business in the commonwealth, or if it has no principal place of business in the commonwealth, then in the probate court for Suffolk County, against the board. Either party shall have the same rights of appeal as other parties in equity in the probate court.
Any trustee or plan administrator neglecting to file its registration in the form and within the time specified may be required to forfeit five dollars for each day during which such neglect continues. The time for filing any registration may be extended by the board, upon application in writing to the board.
Any person violating the board approval provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars for each day of such violation, or by confinement in a jail or house of correction for not more than two years, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 3a - Periodic Review of Registered Pension Plans; Exceptions; Report

Section 3A. The plan administrator or trustee of a registered pension plan except plans with less than twenty-six participants or pension plans or profit-sharing retirement plans funded solely by the direct purchase of an insurance contract or group annuity contract, or that portion of combination plans funded solely by the direct purchase of an insurance contract or group annuity contract, shall cause the plan to be reviewed not less than once every five years by a qualified certified public accountant or public accountant or actuary and shall submit a report of such review to the board stating:
(a) the estimated cost of statutory vested benefits in respect to service in the next succeeding five-year period and the formula for computing such cost for such subsequent five-year period.
(b) the contributions made by the employer for the preceding five-year period to fund the statutory vested benefit.
(c) the surplus or the experience deficiency for statutory vested benefits in the pension plan after making allowances for the present value of all special payments required to be made in the future by the employer as determined by previous reports.
(d) the special payments which will liquidate any such experience deficiency over a term not exceeding five years; and the actuarial assumptions and methods used in the determination.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 4 - Reimbursement for Visual Services

Section 4. Notwithstanding any provision of any contract or agreement entered into by the trustee or plan administrator of any fund authorized under this chapter, whenever such contract or agreement provides for reimbursement for any visual services which are within the lawful scope of the practice of a duly registered optometrist, reimbursement thereunder shall be made to either the registered optometrist or the registered physician of the insured's selection. Visual services, as such term appears in the preceding sentence shall mean the optometric services provided by registered optometrists and physicians as set forth in chapter one hundred and twelve.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 5 - Fees; Registration of Trust or Fund; Filing Annual Reports

Section 5. The fee for registering a trust or fund under the provisions of section two and the fee for filing annual reports with the board shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 6 - Embezzlement or Misappropriation of Trust Funds; Fraud; Penalties

Section 6. Any trustee, plan administrator, official, employee or other person who is convicted of embezzling or misappropriating trust funds or funds, securities or other property entrusted to his care or custody, or of falsification of records or destruction of records with intent to defraud, or of willfully and knowingly filing false statements or of violating the provision of subsection (c) of section three, shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than five years, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 7 - Application of Chapter; Exceptions

Section 7. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to workers' compensation or plans established or maintained for the benefit of self-employed individuals or owner-employees as defined by the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended or to any retirement fund, plan or program or any health and welfare fund, plan or program established by the commonwealth or by any political subdivision thereof or by any educational, charitable or religious organization, nor to any employees' retirement association established by general or special law which is subject by law to an audit or examination by either the commissioner of banks or the commissioner of insurance.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 8 - Waiver of Compliance With Requirements of This Chapter; Application; Form; Revocation; Judicial Review

Section 8. Where a trust or fund, or its trustees or plan administrator are subject to and comply with the requirements of the law of any other state or the United States, which substantially meets the requirements of this chapter with respect to the registration, filing, examination, statements or reports, the requirements of this chapter of any of them to the extent that they are included in such other laws may be waived by the board with respect to any such trust or fund or trustee or plan administrators.
Where such a waiver has been granted, the board shall require the filing with it of copies of documents filed by the trustees with such other state or with the United States. Application for such a waiver shall be made in writing to the board on such forms as it may require and any waiver issued by it hereunder shall be in writing and a copy thereof shall be filed in its office. The board may, at any time, revoke any such waiver if, in its opinion, such other laws fail to accomplish adequately the purposes of this chapter. Any action of the board pursuant to this section shall be subject to judicial review.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 9 - Waiver of Requirement for Statutory Vested Benefits; Procedures

Section 9. In addition to the waiver provisions authorized by section eight, the board, upon the advice and recommendation of the advisory committee, created by section seventeen, may grant a waiver of the requirements of section thirteen under terms and conditions set by the board upon a showing that a pension plan or profit-sharing retirement plan would suffer undue economic hardship that would be detrimental to the interests of its participants. No waiver herein provided shall extend longer than thirty-six months after it has been granted. Upon expiration of said waiver, a proposal for the gradual incorporation of the requirements of section thirteen shall be submitted for the approval of the board. In no instance shall such a proposal for gradual incorporation require more than ten years.
Any request for waiver shall be in writing in a form prescribed by the board. The advisory committee shall receive copies of all waiver requests. Any waiver issued by the board shall be in writing with a notice of its date of issuance. Rules and regulations issued by the board, pursuant to this section, shall be promulgated in accordance with the provisions of chapter thirty A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 11 - Additional Penalties for Failure to Pay Contributions or Benefits; Venue for Complaints

Section 11. In addition to any other penalty of punishment otherwise prescribed by law any person or employee, and the president, secretary, and treasurer, or officers exercising corresponding functions, of a corporation which is an employer, who is party to an agreement to pay or provide the contributions or benefits covered by this chapter or who is so required to pay these contributions or benefits under the terms of sections twenty-six and twenty-seven of chapter one hundred and forty-nine, and who refuses or fails or neglects to pay such contributions or payments within thirty days after such payments are required to be made shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than one year, or both.
A complaint under this section may be brought in the municipal court of the city of Boston, or in a district court within the territorial jurisdiction of which the employer has his principal place of business, or within which the contributions are to be paid, or, if said complaint is brought against an officer of a corporation, within which said officer lives.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 12 - Bond of Trustee or Plan Administrator; Waiver; Failure to File Certification Thereof; Penalty

Section 12. (a) Every trustee or plan administrator subject to the provisions of this chapter, who is responsible for or who is delegated to be responsible for the funds of a trust or fund shall be bonded as herein provided; the amount of such bond shall be fixed at the beginning of each calendar, policy or other fiscal year, as the case may be, and certificates indicating compliance shall be filed with the board, together with those reports filed with the board, in compliance with subsection (a) of section three. The amount of the bond shall be not less than ten per cent of the amount of funds handled by said trustee or plan administrator, determined as herein provided, except that any such bond shall be in a minimum amount of one thousand dollars and a maximum amount of one hundred thousand dollars. For purposes of fixing the amount of such bond, the amount of funds handled shall be determined by the funds handled by the trustee or plan administrator or by their predecessors, if any, during the preceding reporting year, or if the plan has no preceding reporting year, the amount of funds to be handled during the current reporting year by such trustee or plan administrator as estimated by such trustees and plan administrator and approved by the board. Such bond shall provide protection to such funds or trust funds against loss by reason of acts of fraud or dishonesty on the part of such trustee or plan administrator, either directly or through connivance with others. Any bond required hereunder shall have as surety thereon a corporate surety company which is acceptable to the board in a form or type approved by the board, including individual bonds or schedule or blanket forms of bonds which cover a group or class.
(b) Nothing in this section shall require any trustee or plan administrator to be bonded if said trustee or plan administrator is required to be bonded by any law of any other state or of the United States under substantially the same requirement, and said bonding may be waived by board.
(c) Any trustee or plan administrator neglecting to file said certification as required hereunder shall be subject to the penalty prescribed in subsection (a) of section three for failure to file annual reports.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 14 - Termination of Pension Plan or Profit-Sharing Retirement Plan; Allocation of Benefits and Vesting of Interests; Insurance; Notices

Section 14. In the absence of an acceptable method of termination of a pension plan benefits will be allocated to participants and their beneficiaries in the following order:—
First, to provide for a refund to each participant of his contribution, if any, plus credited interest in excess of any benefits paid or to be paid to him or his beneficiary.
Second, to provide to all retired participants and their beneficiaries the plan benefits.
Third, to provide to all participants and their beneficiaries the statutory vested benefits.
Fourth, to provide to participants eligible to retire on normal retirement and their beneficiaries, for the payment of their plan benefits in excess of clause Third.
Fifth, to provide to all participants eligible for early retirement, and their beneficiaries, for the payment of their plan benefits in excess of clause Third above.
Sixth, to provide to all participants eligible for vested benefits under the plan for the payment of their plan benefits in excess of clause Third above.
Seventh, to provide to all participants under the plan for the payment of accrued benefits in excess of the above.
Notwithstanding the above, upon termination of a profit-sharing retirement plan or a money purchase retirement plan, the interests of all participants in their participant accounts shall fully vest.
Any assets insufficient to provide the full benefits with respect to any class will be prorated among the members of that class in proportion to their liability for their benefits.
The board may require as a condition of approval of any plan that such trustee or plan administrator, employer or labor union insure that plan with a private carrier against loss of employee contributions and statutory vested benefits estimated to exist at the termination of the plan if such insurance is available.
Any assessments and premiums required under this chapter shall be deducted from the administrative costs of the fund.
Subsequent to termination of any plan the trustees or plan administrators shall make notification to board of termination of the plan within fifteen days. Within thirty days all employees shall be notified of their rights to any pension benefit and the procedures for claiming those benefits.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 15 - Violations by Trustee or Plan Administrator; Injunctive Relief

Section 15. The attorney general may at the request of the board, maintain and prosecute an action against a trustee or plan administrator subject to this chapter for the purpose of obtaining an injunction restraining such persons from doing any act in violation of this chapter. If the court finds that a defendant is threatening or is likely to do any act in violation of this chapter, and that such violation will cause irreparable injury to the interests of the citizens of the commonwealth or the beneficiaries of the trust or fund involved or any employer contributing to such fund, the court may grant an injunction restraining such violation. The court may, on motion and affidavits, grant a preliminary injunction and in interlocutory injunction, upon such terms as may be just, but the citizens of the commonwealth shall not be required to give security before the issuance of any such injunction.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 16 - Investments and Management

Section 16. Trustees shall invest the funds of their pension plans and profit-sharing retirement plans and manage said affairs in accordance with the provisions contained in the instruments under which they are acting, or, in the absence of any such provisions shall invest the funds and manage fund affairs with the care under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent man acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151d - Health, Welfare and Retirement Funds › Section 18 - Severability

Section 18. If any provision of this chapter as the application of such provision of any person or circumstance is held invalid or is pre-empted by federal law, the remainder of this chapter and the application of such provision to other person or circumstances shall not be affected.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151e - Prohibition of Certain Discrimination by Businesses › Section 1 - Definitions

Section 1. The following words and phrases as used in this chapter shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly requires otherwise:—
''Business'', the manufacture, processing, sale, purchase, licensing, distribution, provision, or advertising of goods or services, or extension of credit, or issuance of letters of credit, or any other aspect of business.
''Foreign government'', all governments and political subdivisions and the instrumentalities thereof, excepting the government, political subdivisions, and instrumentalities of the United States and the states, commonwealths, territories and possessions of the United States, and the District of Columbia;
''Foreign person'', any person whose principal place of residence, business or domicile is outside the United States, or any person controlled directly or indirectly by such person or persons; provided however that no person shall be deemed a foreign person if after reasonable inquiry and due diligence it cannot be determined that any such person has a principal place of residence, business, or domicile outside the United States or is controlled by such person.
''Foreign trade relationships'', the dealing with or in any foreign country of any person, or being listed on a boycott list or compilation of unacceptable persons maintained by a foreign government, foreign person, or international organization.
''International organization'', any association or organization, with the exception of labor associations, or organizations of which more than a majority of the membership consists of foreign persons or foreign governments; and
''Persons'', one or more of the following or their agents, employees, servants, representatives, directors, officers, partners, members, managers, superintendents, and legal representatives: individuals, corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, associations, labor organizations, educational institutions, mutual companies, joint-stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, receivers, fiduciaries, and all other entities recognized at law by this commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151e - Prohibition of Certain Discrimination by Businesses › Section 2 - Unlawful Acts

Section 2. It shall be unlawful for any person doing business in the commonwealth:
(i) to enter into any agreement, contract, arrangement, combination, or understanding with any foreign government, foreign person, or international organization, which requires such person to refuse, fail, or cease to do business in the commonwealth with any other person who is domiciled or has a usual place of business in the commonwealth, based upon such other person's race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin or foreign trade relationships;
(ii) to execute in the commonwealth any contract with any foreign government, foreign person, or international organization which requires such person to refuse, fail or cease to do business with another person based upon such other person's race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, or foreign trade relationships;
(iii) to refuse, fail or cease to do business in the commonwealth with any other person who is domiciled or has a usual place of business in the commonwealth when such refusal, failure, or cessation results directly or indirectly from an agreement, contract, arrangement, combination, or understanding between the person who refuses, fails or ceases to do business and any foreign government, foreign person, or international organization, and is based upon such other person's race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin or foreign trade relationships;
(iv) to discharge or to fail, refuse or cease to hire, promote or appoint in the commonwealth any other person who is domiciled in the commonwealth to any position of employment or employment responsibility when such refusal, failure or cessation results from an agreement, contract, arrangement, combination, or understanding with any foreign government, foreign person, or international organization and is based upon such other person's race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, or foreign trade relationships;
(v) to wilfully and knowingly aid or abet any other person to engage in conduct which is prohibited by this chapter.
It shall not be unlawful under this chapter:
(i) to engage in conduct required by or expressly authorized by acts of the United States Congress, a United States treaty, a United States Regulation, or a United States Executive Order;
(ii) to enter into any agreement with a foreign government or foreign person which requires that a preference or priority be given to the citizens or products of a particular country;
(iii) to enter into any agreement with an international organization entirely composed of member governments or their contracting representatives which requires that a preference or priority be given to the citizens or products of one or more of such member governments;
(iv) to enter into any agreement with respect to the insuring, handling or shipping of goods, or choice of carrier while in international transit.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151e - Prohibition of Certain Discrimination by Businesses › Section 3 - Violations; Damages; Injunctions

Section 3. The attorney general may institute a civil action to prevent or restrain violations of section two.
A person injured by a violation of section two may maintain an action for damages or for an injunction or both against any person who has committed the violation.
In a proceeding under this section, the court shall determine whether a violation has been committed and enter any judgment or decree necessary to remove the effects of any violation it finds and to prevent continuation or renewal of the violation in the future.
If an application for an injunction is granted, after due notice to all parties, a hearing thereon, and as a disposition on the merits of such application, the complainant may be awarded costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
In an action for damages, if there is a wilful violation of section two, the person injured may be awarded up to three times the amount of actual damages which results from the violation, with costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
An action brought to enforce this section shall be commenced within four years after the cause of action accrues.
For the purpose of this paragraph, a cause of action for a continuing violation accrues at the time of the latest violation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 151e - Prohibition of Certain Discrimination by Businesses › Section 5 - Void Contract Provisions

Section 5. Any provision of any contract or other document or other agreement which violates section two or which, if complied with by the person intended to be bound by the provision, would cause a violation of section two shall be null and void as being against the public policy of the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 2 - Powers and Duties of Department; Investigation of Causes of Injuries

Section 2. The department shall make all necessary inspections and investigations relating to causes of injuries for which compensation may be claimed, and for this purpose any board member or employee thereof may at any time enter places of employment when being used for business purposes. It shall also have the powers and duties set forth in this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 2a - Application of Amendments of Statute

Section 2A. Every act, in amendment of this chapter, in effect on the effective date of this section or thereafter becoming effective which increases or decreases the amount or amounts of compensation payable to an injured employee or his dependents including amounts deducted for legal fees shall, for the purposes of this chapter, be deemed to be substantive in character and shall apply only to personal injuries occurring on and after the effective date of such act, unless otherwise expressly provided. Every act, in amendment of this chapter, in effect on the effective date of this section or thereafter becoming effective which is not deemed to be substantive in character within the meaning of this section shall be deemed to be procedural or remedial only, in character, and shall have application to personal injuries irrespective of the date of their occurrence, unless otherwise expressly provided.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 5 - Rules and Regulations

Section 5. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations consistent with this chapter for carrying out the functions of the department. Such rules and amendments thereto shall comply with the filing provisions of section five of chapter thirty A and such regulations shall not take effect until so filed. Such rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, a provision authorizing a party, on or after the filing of any claim or complaint pursuant to this chapter, to serve on any party, employer or medical provider rendering medical treatment to the claimant, a request to produce, and permit the party making such request to inspect and copy, any medical notes, treatment reports and employment records.
Neither an administrative judge nor the reviewing board shall have the authority to repeal, revoke, or otherwise set aside a regulation promulgated by the commissioner; provided, however, that if in any proceeding within the division of dispute resolution it is found that the application of any section of this chapter is made impossible by the enforcement of any particular regulation, the administrative judge or reviewing board shall not apply such regulation during such proceeding only. In any case in which a regulation is not applied as herein provided, the administrative judge or reviewing board shall, on or before the date of the issuance of the decision, inform the commissioner in writing of the explicit contradiction found between the regulation and this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 6 - Notice of Injuries; Forms; Additional Reports; Statistical Summaries

Section 6. Within seven calendar days, not including Sundays and legal holidays, of receipt of notice of any injury alleged to have arisen out of and in the course of employment which incapacitates an employee from earning full wages for a period of five or more calendar days, the employer shall furnish notice of the injury to the division of administration, the employee and insurer. The notice shall be submitted on a form prescribed by the division and shall contain the name and nature of the business of the employer, the name, age, sex, and occupation of the injured employee, and the date, nature, circumstances and cause of the injury and such additional information as the division shall prescribe.
The commissioner may require employers with those standard industry codes with the highest number of injuries or claims to provide proof of insurance coverage as required by this chapter. The commissioner may utilize information provided by the department of unemployment assistance and the department of revenue to ascertain the addresses of the employers with such industry codes.
Additional reports may be required from employers, insurers and medical services providers with respect to such injury and of the condition of such employee, including copies of medical, hospital, and rehabilitation reports and records, and the payments made or to be made for compensation shall be filed with the division of administration at such times and in such manner as the division may prescribe.
The division of administration shall prepare statistical summaries of reports filed under this section.
The provisions of this section shall apply also to the head of each employing board, commission and department of the commonwealth and of the several counties, cities, towns and districts subject to the provisions of section sixty-nine and copies of the report hereby required shall be furnished to the appropriate retirement board, if any, and to the agent set forth in section seventy-five or the insurer, if any.
Any person who violates the provision of this section three or more times in any year shall be punished by a fine of one hundred dollars for each such violation. Each failure to pay a fine within thirty days of receipt of a bill from the department shall be considered a separate violation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 6a - Informational Brochures; Monitoring of Benefits; Resolution of Disputes

Section 6A. Upon receipt of notice of injury from the employer, or any other indication of a compensable injury, the division of administration shall immediately mail, post paid, to the injured worker an informational brochure as prescribed by the division which sets forth in clear and understandable language a summary statement of the rights, benefits, and obligations of injured workers under this chapter. The division shall monitor the furnishing of benefits by the employer or insurer to ascertain that correct benefits are being provided in cases accepted as compensable injuries. In the event of controversy or dispute, the division shall attempt to resolve the dispute promptly and informally, and, upon failing to do so, shall promptly forward a claim form to the employee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 7a - Presumptions; Employee Unable to Testify

Section 7A. In any claim for compensation where the employee has been killed or found dead at his place of employment or, in the absence of death, is physically or mentally unable to testify, and such testimonial incapacity is causally related to the injury, it shall be prima facie evidence that the employee was performing his regular duties on the day of injury or death and that the claim comes within the provisions of this chapter, that sufficient notice of the injury has been given and that the injury or death was not occasioned by the willful intention of the employee to injure or kill himself or another.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 7b - Admissibility Of, or Reference To, Statement Given Insurer or Self-Insurer by Claimant or in His Behalf

Section 7B. In any claim for compensation by an employee, which is denied by an insurer or self-insurer, no statement in writing signed by the claimant, or statement taken on a recording instrument, concerning the facts out of which the claim arose, given by such claimant, or a person in his behalf, to such insurer or self-insurer, or to an agent or attorney of such insurer or self-insurer, shall be admissible in evidence or referred to at the hearing of any such claim, or in any proceeding connected therewith, unless a copy of such statement or verbatim written transcript of such recorded statement has been furnished to the claimant, or to a person acting in his behalf, or to his attorney, within ten days after a written request therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 7c - Representation of Claimants; Compensation; Denial or Suspension of Right to Practice or Appear

Section 7C. Any party appearing before the division of dispute resolution may be heard in person, or may be represented by an attorney or by any other person designated by such party. No person who is not an attorney shall be compensated for representing a claimant in such a proceeding; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall bar payment by a labor organization, employee association, or insurer of any payment of regular wages or salary to a full time employee for time spent in representing a claimant. The senior judge may, for cause, deny or suspend the right of any person to practice or appear before the department. Any person denied or suspended under this provision shall have the right to appeal to the commissioner any denial or suspension within fourteen days of receipt of the notice. Upon receipt of such appeal, the commissioner shall refer the matter to the division of administrative law appeals within the executive office of administration and finance which shall have the authority to reverse, uphold or modify the removal or suspension after a hearing held pursuant to section thirteen of chapter thirty A. Any party aggrieved by said hearing shall have the right to appeal as set forth in section fourteen of said chapter thirty A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 7f - Record of Filing Fees, Penalties and Attorneys' Fees

Section 7F. The department shall keep and maintain a record of filing fees charged under section ten, penalties levied under section seven and section eight, and attorneys' fees ordered under section thirteen A, where such filing fees, penalties, or attorneys' fees are required to be paid by insurers, separately identifying those amounts which may not be utilized in the establishment of premium rates. This information shall be provided to the advisory council and to the commissioner of insurance at least once each calendar year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 7g - Documentation Attached to Claims

Section 7G. The senior judge in consultation with the commissioner shall promulgate rules setting forth the required documentation to be attached to any claim for benefits or complaint for modification or discontinuance of benefits. The attachment of all required documentation shall be a prerequisite for the acceptance of said claim or complaint for processing by the office of claims administration.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 9a - Physicians Engaged to Testify or Depose for Employee; Fees Paid by Insurer

Section 9A. Whenever a medical question is in dispute in any case, and an impartial physician has not, prior to seven days before the date assigned for each hearing thereof, been appointed by the administrative judge, the employee may engage his own physician, and one additional physician if the administrative judge finds that justice and equity require the same, to appear and testify or be deposed, in his behalf, and, if the decision of the administrative judge or reviewing board is in favor of the employee, a reasonable fee shall be allowed by the administrative judge or reviewing board for the services of each such physician and shall be added to the amount so awarded and be paid by the insurer under the provisions of this chapter; provided, that, notwithstanding the foregoing, in every case wherein the decision of the administrative judge or reviewing board is in favor of the employee, if more than one physician appeared and testified in behalf of the insurer a reasonable fee shall be allowed for the services of each of the physicians, up to a like number, who appeared and testified or were deposed in behalf of the employee, which fees shall be added to the amount so awarded and be paid by the insurer under the provisions of this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 152 - Workers' Compensation › Section 10c - Collective Bargaining Agreements; Binding Obligations and Procedures

Section 10C. (1) Any employer, and the recognized or certified and exclusive representative of its employees may agree by collective bargaining to establish certain binding obligations and procedures relating to workers' compensation; provided, however, that the scope of the agreement shall be limited to:
(a) benefits supplemental to those provided in sections thirty-four, thirty-four A, thirty-five and thirty-six;
(b) an alternative dispute resolution system which may include but is not limited to arbitration, mediation and conciliation;
(c) the use of a limited list of providers for medical treatment;
(d) the use of a limited list of impartial physicians;
(e) the creation of a light duty, modified job or return to work program;
(f) the adoption of twenty-four hour health care coverage plan;
(g) the establishment of safety committees and safety procedures; and
(h) the establishment of vocational rehabilitation or retraining programs.
[There is no subdivision (2).]