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May 18, 2015Posted on

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May 18, 2015Posted on

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Extension available to certain employers for compliance with new Massachusetts Sick time Law

CLIENT ALERT May 18, 2015 Extension available to certain employers for compliance with new Massachusetts Sick Time Law Employers who currently offer sick leave to their employees may now have an additional six months to comply with the provisions of the new Massachusetts sick time law. The original effective date of the law was July 1, 2015, but employers who qualify for the extension have until January 1, 2016 to implement the new law. To qualify, the employer must have had as of May 1, 2015 a paid time off policy that provides employees with the right to use at least 30 hours of paid time off from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015. By July 1, 2015, paid time off must be provided to all employees, including part-time, temporary, and seasonal workers. Employers may provide proportional amounts of paid time off to part-time employees and employees hired after July 1, 2015. The paid time off must be job-protected and subject to the new law’s non-retaliation and non-interference provisions. Employers who did not maintain a paid time off policy as of May 1, 2015 do not qualify for the extension, and must comply with the new law by the...

May 18, 2015Posted on

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May 18, 2015Posted on

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Attorney General Issues Proposed Regulations to New Sick Leave Law

CLIENT ALERT May 18, 2015 Attorney General Issues Proposed Regulations to New Sick Leave Law Under Massachusetts’ new sick leave law, signed into law on November 4, 2014, employees are entitled to forty hours of sick time per calendar year, with one hour of sick time accruing for every thirty hours worked. [See Client Alert: New Law Mandates Employers Provide Sick Leave.] Employers with eleven or more employees must provide paid sick time. Employers with fewer than eleven employees may provide unpaid sick time. The Attorney General has issued proposed regulations that address ambiguities in the new law. Since the proposed regulations are scheduled to be made final only days before July 1, 2015 – the effective date of the law – the Attorney General has implemented a six-month extension for qualifying employers. [See Client Alert: Certain Employers Have Six Month “Safe Harbor” Period.] An overview of the proposed regulations follows. Do Paid Time Off Banks Meet the Sick Time Law’s Requirements? Yes, if (i) one hour of PTO accrues for every thirty hours worked, and (ii) the PTO may be taken for the same reasons as sick time. Leave policies are also permitted to provide more than forty hours...

April 14, 2015Posted on

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April 14, 2015Posted on

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Lucy Prashker announces launch of Chapter One, an early childhood literacy initiative in South County

Lucy Prashker, managing partner of Cain Hibbard, announced the launch of Chapter One, an early childhood literacy initiative in South County supported by Berkshire United Way. Prashker’s announcement of the launch was made at a LIVE UNITED community celebration held at Crissey Farm in Great Barrington. The Chapter One coalition is made up of educators, social service organizations, businesses, and community members who have committed to closing the educational opportunity gap in South County by supporting early childhood literacy. Six public school districts are participating in the initiative, including Richmond, Lenox, Lee, Berkshire Hills Regional, Farmington River and Southern Berkshire Regional. With the support of Berkshire United Way, Prashker volunteered to help develop and lead the launch of this critical initiative in South County. Chapter One’s next public event will be held May 21 at the American Institute for Economic Research. The event will be open to business leaders and other community leaders interested in learning about the demonstrated link between early childhood literacy and a community’s economic health.

April 14, 2015Posted on

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April 14, 2015Posted on

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Cain Hibbard wins Pinnacle Award from Berkshire United Way

Cain Hibbard has been named a member of the 2015 Pinnacle Group by Berkshire United Way. Membership in the Pinnacle Group is awarded to those businesses that have demonstrated outstanding generosity. Cain Hibbard employees achieved 100% participation in last year’s BUW fund drive, a participation rate about which the firm is very proud. At Cain Hibbard, community counts.

March 27, 2015Posted on

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March 27, 2015Posted on

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Diane DeGiacomo featured speaker on sophisticated issues in Family Law Practice

Diane DeGiacomo joined other experts in her field of family law to speak at the annual Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education’s “Cutting Edge Issues in Western Massachusetts Family Law Practice 2015” on March 27, 2015 in Springfield, MA. Do the provisions in the Alimony Reform Act terminating alimony upon reaching retirement age apply retroactively? What is the standard courts use to decide if a parent with joint custody may leave the state with children? Under what circumstances will a court refuse to later uphold a prenuptial agreement, even if it was fair and reasonable when executed? Analyzing recent cases against the backdrop of both old and new legislation, DeGiacomo illustrated recent trends in Probate and Family Court decisions, and practice tips for experience family law lawyers.

March 18, 2015Posted on

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March 18, 2015Posted on

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Diane DeGiacomo and Jared Kelly featured speakers at HRABC’s annual law update.

Diane DeGiacomo and Jared Kelly presented “The Season of Changing Leaves” to the Human Resources Association of Berkshire County on March 18, 2015 at the Berkshire Hills Country Club. The presentation centered around significant changes in employment law in the last 12 months, especially in the area of leave policies. Employers must now provide five sick days a year to employees, and for many employers, the leave must be paid. Massachusetts has now expanded the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act to encompass men as well as women. And the Act Relative to Domestic Violence requires employers of 50 or more to provide up to 15 days of unpaid leave a year for employees to address issues of domestic violence. How these new leave requirements interact with one another, as well as existing required leaves, such as the Family Medical Leave Act, remains an open question. What is clear is employers must review and modify existing leave policies to comply with the ever changing employment laws in Massachusetts and on the federal level.

March 5, 2015Posted on

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March 5, 2015Posted on

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Jared Kelly, litigator and business lawyer, joins Cain Hibbard

Cain Hibbard is pleased to announce that Jared T. Kelly, Esq. has joined the firm. A native of California, Jared began his litigation career in Massachusetts in 2007. Since that time, Jared has practiced at two leading international law firms, where he handled complex litigation matters in a variety of areas, including contract, tort, securities, and intellectual property. In 2011, Jared became a Deputy District Attorney in California where he successfully tried several misdemeanor and felony cases. Jared was educated in Canada, securing his Bachelor of Science from McGill University and his legal degree from the University of Toronto. At McGill, Jared conducted research in the field of neuroscience and psychology, publishing two papers on the neurological underpinnings of nicotine craving. In law school, Jared led several international human rights endeavors, including producing documentary films in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and assisting the prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Jared has a varied practice whose work spans intellectual property, employment law, health law, and domestic relations. Jared is a member of the firm’s litigation group, with experience in state and federal courts, as well as governmental tribunals. Outside of work, Jared enjoys getting involved in community and environmental initiatives. He currently serves...

January 30, 2015Posted on

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January 30, 2015Posted on

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Partner Diane DeGiacomo Coaches Lenox High Students in Statewide MBA Mock Trial Competition

Diane DeGiacomo, now in her eighth year as the lawyer coach for Lenox Memorial Middle and High School’s Mock Trial team, proudly congratulated her students as they swept the Berkshire County competitions winning 3-0 and moved on to represent Region 16 in the state play offs. “I love working with these kids”, DeGiacomo said. “They have a great thirst for knowledge and become more confident in their abilities throughout the season.” The mock trial program is an annual competition in which members of the Massachusetts Bar Association create a fictional case that is then argued by high school teams statewide. Judges determine the trial winners based on the quality of the arguments and individual performances of the high school student participants. There are 16 regions statewide containing135 high school teams total. This year’s case involves a murder trial, with the defendant alleging self-defense. The mock trial program has become so popular that nearly 30 kids have joined the team this year, up from the 6 students who made up the team when DeGiacomo first started coaching in 2007. Read More – Berkshire Eagle: MA Mock Trial Program

January 7, 2015Posted on

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January 7, 2015Posted on

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Client Alert: Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act expanded to include men and to provide additional protections to employees

On January 7, 2015, Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a Parental Leave Bill, amending the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act (“MMLA”). The MMLA had provided eight weeks of job-protected leave to female employees for the birth or adoption of a child. The Parental Leave Bill expands this protection to include men and to provide certain additional protections. As amended, the parental leave law provides: Eight weeks of job-protected leave for the birth or adoption of a child, regardless of whether the employee is male or female. Eight weeks of job-protected leave for the placement of a child with an employee pursuant to court order. A presumption that employees taking parental leaves that exceed eight weeks are also entitled to job protection, unless the employer provides written notice to the employee that leave for longer than eight weeks is not job-protected. That notice must be provided before the leave begins and again at the end of the eight-week period. (This provision of the new law overrides a prior Supreme Judicial Court decision – Global NAPs, Inc. v. Awiszus – which held that job protection only applied to the first eight weeks of leave.) Two individuals who work for the same employer...

November 5, 2014Posted on

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November 5, 2014Posted on

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New Law Mandates Employers Provide Sick Leave

On November 4, 2014, the voters of Massachusetts approved a ballot question that grants employees forty hours of sick time per calendar year. Employers with eleven or more employees must provide paid leave. Employers with ten or fewer employees may provide unpaid leave. All employees are entitled to the leave, including part-time and temporary workers. The new law takes effect on July 1, 2015. Employees may use the sick time to (1) attend to their own illness or the illness of their child, spouse, parent, or in-laws; (2) attend routine medical appointments; or (3) address the effects of domestic violence in their household. One hour of sick time is earned for every thirty hours an employee works. Employees begin accruing sick time on their date of hire, or on July 1, 2015, whichever is later. Employees are not eligible to use accrued sick time until ninety days after the start of their employment. They may carry over accrued sick time into the next year, but may only use a maximum of forty hours of sick time in one year. Employees may use sick time in hourly increments, or in the smallest unit of time that their employer uses to track...