What Can I Do if I Was Not Paid on Time?

Remedies for Late Payment of Wages

Massachusetts law has strict rules about the timely payment of wages. If you are not paid timely (for regular wages, within 6 days from the end of the last pay period, and for your final paycheck on the date of termination if you are fired or in the next regular payroll if you resign), here are some things you should know:

You have a right to ask your employer to be paid without fear of retribution. The Wage Act prohibits retaliation for your exercise of your rights under the wage and hour laws.
If you are not paid on time, you may recover three times the amount owed, plus your legal fees if you have to bring a claim in court in order to receive payment.
The law does require you to first file a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General's office before you bring a lawsuit. This is a simple form, and if you indicate that you would like a "right to sue letter" on the form, you should receive a response from the AGO within a week or two, sometimes faster.
Under prior law, if your employer paid you before you filed a complaint they could avoid the triple damages. A recent decision by the Supreme Judicial Court has clarified that the triple damages are the employer's responsibility for late wages even if they pay you before you bring a lawsuit.

Learn more here about the Massachusetts Wage Act.

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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 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, been interviewed by the Massachusetts Superlawyers magazine about non compete agreements, and written an op-ed in the New York Times about the dangers of non competes. Along with the rest of the slnlaw team, she has helped hundreds of clients navigate, negotiate, or defend against their non compete agreements.

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 many clients understand and evaluate their non compete agreements and develop strategies for defending against non compete enforcement and negotiating resolution.

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 works with employers to develop reasonable and enforceable employee agreements, including non competes. She has also helped employees understand and evaluate their non compete agreements and develop strategies for defending against non compete enforcement and negotiating resolution.

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 both evaluate and negotiate their non compete agreements, and defended non compete claims in state and federal courts.

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