Press Release  AG Healey Advises Public About 2020 Minimum Wage Increase

Boston — Attorney General Maura Healey is reminding employees and employers that the state’s minimum wage will increase to $12.75 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

The AG’s Office has made available its wage and hour poster that employers are required to display in both English and any other language that is spoken by five percent or more of the employer’s workforce. The poster is available in seven languages and in formats that employers, workers, members of the public, and organizations can easily access, free of charge.

“Our Fair Labor Division is committed to protecting Massachusetts workers and their families through education, outreach, and enforcement actions,” said AG Healey. “We are issuing this notice to make sure the public is aware of this change to the minimum wage in Massachusetts.”

In June 2018, Massachusetts enacted a new law that set the minimum wage to increase each year until it reaches $15 in 2023. Tipped employees will also get a raise on Jan.1, 2020, and must be paid a minimum of $4.95 per hour provided that their tips bring them up to at least $12.75 per hour. If the total hourly rate for the employee including tips does not equal $12.75 at the end of the shift, the employer must make up the difference.

Free copies of the AG’s Wage and Hour poster are available in English, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Khmer, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese upon request. To request a copy, please visit www.mass.gov/ago/fldposter or call (617) 727-3465. Posters are also available on the AG’s Fair Labor Division website to download and print. 

The AG’s Office is dedicated to ensuring that every worker is paid for every hour worked. To increase resources available to victims of wage theft, the AG’s Office works with community partners, law schools, and private bar attorneys to host free wage theft clinics in Boston, New Bedford, and Springfield. These clinics are part of an effort to address wage theft and worker exploitation among vulnerable populations, including low-wage and immigrant workers in the state. For more information and a schedule of upcoming clinics, please click here.

The Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division enforces laws that protect workers, including minimum wage, timely payment of wages, overtime, earned sick time, child labor, Sunday and holiday premium pay, and the public construction bid and prevailing wage laws. In fiscal year 2019, the office assessed more than $9.8 million in restitution and penalties against employers on behalf of working people in Massachusetts.

Workers who believe that their rights have been violated in the workplace can file a complaint at www.mass.gov/ago/fld, or call the office’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465. More information about the state’s wage and hour laws is also available in multiple languages here.

Read this press release in Chinese here.

Read this press release in Spanish here.

Read this press release in Portuguese here.

Read this press release in Vietnamese here.

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