Mass. bill would raise overtime salary thresholds, codify exempt-employee definitions

A bill filed Jan. 17, 2025, in the Massachusetts House of Representatives would raise the weekly salary threshold that employers must meet for certain salaried workers to be exempt from overtime pay and would add statutory definitions for executive, administrative and professional exemptions. The measure, filed as House No. 2166 by Representative Lindsay N. Sabadosa of Northampton and Representative Daniel M. Donahue of Worcester, would set an initial overtime threshold of $844 per week on its effective date, increase the threshold to $1,211.53 per week on Jan. 1, 2026, and to $1,403.84 per week on Jan. 1, 2027. Beginning Jan. 1, 2028, and each Jan. 1 thereafter, the measure would require the threshold to be at least the higher of two rates: the weekly earnings for a 40-hour workweek at twice the state minimum wage or the prior year’s threshold increased by the percent change in the second quartile of usual weekly earnings for full-time workers as published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; the law would require the Department of Labor to publish the annual rate. The bill adds a new Section 1C to Chapter 151 of the Massachusetts General Laws, giving statutory definitions for ‘‘bona fide executive,’’ ‘‘administrative’’ and ‘‘professional’’ employees. Each definition requires that the employee be paid on a salary basis at or above the statutory threshold and describes duties that must be met for exemption: executive duties include managing an enterprise or recognized department and customarily directing two or more employees and having authority to hire or fire or making recommendations given particular weight; administrative duties must be office or nonmanual work directly related to management or business operations and include the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on significant matters; professional duties require advanced knowledge acquired by prolonged specialized instruction or work requiring invention, originality or artistic talent. The draft defines ‘‘primary duty’’ to mean the principal, main, major or most important duty and states that tasks constitute a primary duty only if the employee devotes more than 50% of work time to them. It defines ‘‘salary basis’’ as a predetermined amount paid weekly or less frequently that is not subject to reductions for variations in quality or quantity of work, and it explains permissible and impermissible deductions and pay practices for exempt employees. The text gives the Commissioner of the Department of Labor authority to set a rate by regulation and recognizes whichever is highest of the statutory weekly threshold, any regulatory rate the commissioner sets, or the annualized federal rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The bill text lists the subject area as Labor and Workforce Development; the filing does not record any committee action, vote or final legislative outcome in the document itself. If enacted, the provisions would change when an employee classified as exempt under Chapter 151 is eligible for overtime pay; the bill does not estimate how many workers would be affected or provide budgetary impact information in the filing.