Press Release  AG Healey Advises Public About 2021 Minimum Wage Increase

Attorney General Maura Healey is reminding employees and employers that the state’s minimum wage will increase to $13.50 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2021.

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 and for which a translated notice in that language is available from the AG’s Office. 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.

“As residents across our state continue to struggle amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s vital that workers are paid the wages to which they are legally entitled and that their rights are protected,” said AG Healey. “We are issuing this notice to ensure that employers and employees alike are aware of this change to the minimum wage in Massachusetts, and to let the public know that my Fair Labor Division is here if they have questions or concerns.”

In June 2018, Massachusetts enacted a law that set the minimum wage to increase each year until it reaches $15.00 in 2023. Tipped employees will also get a raise on Jan.1, 2021, and must be paid a minimum of $5.55 per hour provided that their tips bring them up to at least $13.50 per hour. If the total hourly rate for the employee including tips does not equal $13.50 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 on the AG’s Fair Labor Division website to download and print. To request a hard copy, please visit www.mass.gov/ago/fldposter or call (617) 727-3465.

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 2020, the Division assessed more than $12.3 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.

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