Unpaid Work During COVID Furlough: A Massachusetts Wage Act Success Story
Wage Act Victory: Unpaid Work During COVID Furlough
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nathan, a consulting engineer at a cloud storage company, faced an unexpected challenge. Like many others, he and his team were furloughed due to the crisis. However, what followed was a series of events that led to a violation of their rights under the Massachusetts Wage Act.
While on furlough, Nathan and his team received an unusual request from their employer. They were explicitly asked to continue working off-site, maintaining and updating code for customer use. The catch? They were told they would not be paid for their efforts during this period. The reasoning provided was that this unpaid work would secure their positions for when the pandemic shutdown ended, and they were explicitly instructed not to inform customers about their furlough status. Nathan and his team complied with their employer's demands, dedicating over two months of unpaid labor. However, instead of recalling them from furlough when the situation improved, the company took an unexpected turn. They announced layoffs, affecting Nathan and his colleagues. To make matters worse, Nathan was not compensated for the over three weeks of accrued vacation time he had saved up before his termination. The company offered him a severance package, but it fell far short of covering his owed wages. Frustrated and feeling taken advantage of, Nathan sought help. Our Solution: When Nathan reached out to us, the pandemic was still ongoing, making the situation even more challenging. He not only had to contend with unpaid wages for his months of work but also lost opportunities for alternative employment during that time. We took action by filing a claim under the Massachusetts Wage Act and initiated written discovery. To our advantage, the documents provided by the company fully supported Nathan's claim that they had indeed continued to receive services throughout the furlough, all at the company's direction. Ultimately, we negotiated a settlement that provided Nathan with the compensation he rightfully deserved for his unpaid wages and accrued vacation time. Postscript: Nathan's case serves as a reminder that the Massachusetts Wage Act and minimum wage laws exist to protect employees, especially in situations where they are asked to work without pay. He not only secured compensation for his work but also held the company accountable for exploiting the COVID-19 furlough to extract free labor from its employees. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, remember that the law is on your side. An experienced employment attorney can guide you through your rights and options, ensuring fair treatment and just compensation for your work. |
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Meet Our Employment Lawyers
Emily Smith-Lee is the owner and founder of slnlaw. She is a 1996 graduate of Boston College Law School. She was previously a partner at the Boston office of a large international firm, where she worked for thirteen years before starting the firm that became slnlaw in 2009. She has been recognized as a Massachusetts Superlawyer each year since 2013, and in 2018 earned recognition as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's Lawyers of the Year. She has written a book on employment law: Rules of the Road, What You Need to Know About Employment Laws in Massachusetts, and helped thousands of clients on both the employee and employer side with issues relating to wage and hour laws, including overtime pay, late or unpaid wages or commissions, employee misclassification, and retaliation against employees asserting rights under the wage and hour laws.
Rebecca Rogers: Rebecca is a 2006 graduate of Boston College Law School, and has worked with slnlaw since 2013. She previously worked as an intellectual property litigation attorney for Fish & Richardson in Boston, Massachusetts, and clerked for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Rebecca has helped clients with wage and hour disputes, including employee misclassification, late or unpaid wages or commissions, retaliation under the Wage Act, and advice to both employees and employers about wage and hour law compliance.
Jenna Ordway: Jenna is a 2013 graduate of Quinnipiac Law School, and also earned an LLM in Taxation from Boston University in 2015. She has been affiliated with slnlaw since 2011, first as a law clerk and then as an attorney. Jenna has been recognized since 2019 as a "Rising Star" by Massachusetts Superlawyers. Jenna has helped clients assess their rights under the wage and hour laws, including employee misclassification, untimely payment of final wages, late or unpaid commissions, retaliation, and advice to small business owners about wage and hour law compliance.
Elijah Bresley: Eli is a 2014 graduate of Seton Hall Law school, and has worked with slnlaw since 2020. He previously worked for a boutique employment law firm outside of Boston, and then for the Labor and Employment department of a large Boston firm. He also spent a year clerking for the judges of the Superior Court in Hartford, Connecticut. Eli has helped clients with wage and hour claims, including late or unpaid commissions, retaliation, employee misclassification, and overtime, and litigated these claims in state and federal courts. He also advises employers about employment policies and wage and hour compliance.
Sharleen Tinnin: Sharleen is a 2010 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, and has been with slnlaw since 2023. Prior to joining slnlaw, she worked with King, Tilden, McEttrick & Brink, P.C. on complex civil litigation matters. She previously worked for the United States Department of Justice, and received an "Excellence in Justice" award in 2017. Sharleen has helped clients with multiple wage and hour issues, including retaliation, misclassification, and late or unpaid wages or commissions, and litigated these claims in state and federal courts.
How We Can Help
If you've experienced wage violations like those in our success stories, we can help you navigate the legal process, recover your unpaid wages, and ensure justice is served. Contact us to discuss your case. You can use the button below to schedule a call back from a member of our team, or give us a call at 781-784-2322.
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