Who is Exempt from Minimum Wage?
Minimum Wage Exemptions Under Massachusetts and Federal LawThere are certain jobs that are exempt from Massachusetts and/or federal minimum wage requirements.
Under Massachusetts law, the following are exempt occupations: "...professional service, agricultural and farm work, work by persons being rehabilitated or trained under rehabilitation or training programs in charitable, educational or religious institutions, work by seasonal camp counselors and counselor trainees or work by members of religious orders. Occupation shall also not include outside sales work regularly performed by outside salesmen who regularly sell a product or products away from their employer's place of business and who do not make daily reports or visits to the office or plant of their employer." Employees who are exempt under federal law, but not under Massachusetts law, include certain domestic workers, border patrol agents, and baseball players. If you are not exempt under Massachusetts law, whether or not you are exempt under federal law, you are entitled to the Massachusetts minimum wage (currently $14.50 per hour, and $15.00 per hour beginning in 2023). If you are exempt under Massachusetts law but not under federal law, the applicable minimum wage is the federal minimum of $7.25. Learn more here about Massachusetts and federal minimum wage exemptions. |
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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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