Working on Sundays and Holidays ("Blue Laws")

Retailers may open at any time on Sunday without the need for approval by the Department of Labor Standards, and without the need for local police permit.  (To find out about permissible days and hours of operation for alcoholic beverage retailers, contact the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission at (617) 727-3040.)

Certain retail establishments* that operate on Sundays are subject to the following restriction:

Voluntariness of employment
Most retailers cannot require workers to work on Sunday and cannot punish or retaliate against a worker in any way for refusing to work on a Sunday (the “voluntariness requirement”). This applies regardless of the number of individuals employed, and regardless of whether an employee is paid hourly or by a fixed salary, unless the employer falls into one of the specific exemptions referenced below.

Note that premium pay requirements for certain retail employers to pay certain hourly employees a higher hourly rate on Sundays and certain holidays were eliminated effective January 1, 2023.

*Massachusetts’ blue laws contain 55 exemptions allowing different types of businesses to operate on Sundays and certain covered holidays.  Some types of retailers engaged in the sale of goods have their own specific exemptions and therefore do not have to comply with the “voluntariness” requirement.  These include:

• Food stores that don’t employ more than three people, including the proprietor, at any one time on Sunday and throughout the week.
• The sale of paintings, objects of art, catalogues and pictures at art galleries.
• The sale of gifts, souvenirs, antiques, secondhand furniture, handcrafted goods and art goods.
• The sale and rental of sporting equipment and clothing on premises where the sport for which the equipment or clothing to be sold or rented is carried on. (For example, a skating rink selling skates, or a golf course selling clubs or golf shoes.
• The sale of fuel, gasoline and lubricating oil and the operation of an automotive service facility.
• The sale of tires, batteries and automotive parts for emergency use.
• The sale plants, trees or bushes, and items related to their cultivation.
• The sale and delivery of cut flowers.
• Pet stores and pet supply stores.
• Sale of state lottery tickets
• The sale of baked goods.
• Restaurants, including take-out.

This is only a partial list of all types of businesses that have their own specific exemptions to blue laws. For the complete list, see Mass. General Laws Chapter 136, Section 6.

Any other business involved in the sale of retail goods that does not fall into one of the specific exemptions must comply with the voluntariness requirement, including grocery stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, and drug stores.  The sale of one of the items listed in the exemptions, among other items, above does NOT mean that a business qualifies for that specific exemption. (For instance, a supermarket that sells cut flowers and lottery tickets does not qualify for the exemption for either of those types of specific businesses). To qualify for one of the specific exemptions, the business must be exclusively engaged in that specific activity (for instance, a flower store that only sells flowers).

Generally, non-retail businesses cannot operate on Sundays, unless they fall within one of the exemptions. However, for all businesses, a permit for work on Sundays may be issued by the police chief of the city or town where the business is located. A permit may be issued only for “necessary work or labor which could not be performed on any other day without serious suffering, loss, damage or public inconvenience, or which could not be performed on any other day without delay to military defense work."

Generally, manufacturers are prohibited from opening on Sundays, without a permit.  Additionally, manufacturers may petition the Attorney General for a temporary exemption from the Day of Rest Laws.

The law provides a very limited exception when manufacturers can operate on Sundays, without a permit, as follows: “manufacturing processes which for technical reasons require continuous operations."

Special rules apply to the sale of alcoholic beverages.  Otherwise, the following rules apply:

Unrestricted Holidays: 
Work may be performed without a permit. Voluntariness of employment requirements do not apply.

• Martin Luther King Day
• President's Day
• Evacuation Day
• Patriots' Day
• Bunker Hill Day

Partially Restricted Holidays: 
Work may be performed without a permit. Voluntariness of employment requirements do apply.

• New Year's Day
• Memorial Day
• Juneteenth Independence Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day after 12:00 noon
• Veterans Day after 1:00 p.m.

Restricted Holidays:

The Department of Labor Standards may issue uniform, statewide approval of permits for each of the following holidays. If the Department of Labor Standards issues a statewide approval, work may only be performed if the retailer has obtained a local police permit issued at the discretion of the local police chief.

• Columbus Day before 12:00 noon*
• Veterans Day before 1:00 p.m.*
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

* If statewide and local permits are granted for work performed prior to 12:00 noon on Columbus Day or 1:00 p.m on Veteran’s Day, then the voluntariness requirements apply to such work

Generally, most types of non-retail businesses may operate on the following legal holidays, without a permit or restrictions:

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King Day
• President's Day
• Evacuation Day
• Patriots' Day
• Bunker Hill Day
• Juneteenth Independence Day
• Columbus Day after 12:00 noon
• Veterans Day after 1:00 p.m.

Most non-retail businesses cannot operate on any other legal holidays, unless they fall within one of the exemptions in M.G.L. c. 136, secs. 4, 6 and/or 14.  See also M.G.L. c. 140, sec. 181.

Unrestricted Holidays:
Manufacturers may operate without a permit and voluntariness requirements do not apply:

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King Day
• President's Day
• Evacuation Day
• Patriots' Day
• Bunker Hill Day
• Juneteenth Independence Day
• Columbus Day after 12:00 noon
• Veterans Day after 1:00 p.m.

Restricted Holidays:
Unless granted a permit by the local police, manufacturers are generally prohibited from operating on the following legal holidays:

• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day before 12:00 noon
• Veterans Day before 1:00 p.m.
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

Although manufacturers may lawfully operate on legal holidays (assuming permits are obtained when necessary), employees cannot be required to work on those days.  The law provides a very limited exception when manufacturers can require work on holidays: when the work is both 1) " absolutely necessary" and 2) "can lawfully be performed on Sunday."

Find links and citations to the laws referenced above.