Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog
According to a study by the National Employment Law project, the number of workers that fall under the “temp” category in the U.S. rose 41% between 2008 and 2012. It appears that temporary staffing agencies are not just providing temporary office clerks and secretaries to employers, but they also they are helping to staff other types of jobs in other industries, such as janitorial services and fast food.
Temp workers are convenient for large companies. Employers can employ temps quickly, and benefits and unemployment insurance don’t have to be provided. However, some critics believe temp workers are at a disadvantage in that they are “disposable,” which leaves them with little recourse should an employer mistreat them or violate the law. Temp workers may not even know that they have rights.
Last year, The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health advocated or the passing of the Temporary Workers Right to Know Law. The law deals with serious labor abuses, including the failure to pay temp workers.
Under this law, temp agencies have to give temps a written job order, including pay rate, start date, and length of the job. They also have to tell the worker if any special training, supplies, clothes, or licenses are required and if food or transportation will be provided. Any necessary work expenses that would lower a worker’s pay to under minimum wage is not allowed.
In Massachusetts except for a few exceptions, employers must provide workers’ compensation benefits to full-time employees, part-time workers, seasonal workers, workers who are paid in cash, undocumented workers, workers who work for free, and employees who are family members. Domestic workers, including housekeepers or nannies, also must be given Massachusetts workers’ compensation coverage if they are employed for more than 16 hours a week.
If you have been injured in a Massachusetts work accident, please contact our Boston workers’ compensation law firm today. At Altman & Altman, LLP, we make it our business to make sure workers and their families receive all the work injury benefits that they are owed.
Unfortunately, not all employers provide Massachusetts workers’ compensation to employees even though the law mandates this. Sometimes, even when a worker has work injury benefits, a dispute between the injured employee and the employer (or the insurer) may arise. This can force a worker to have to fight to get the benefits that owed. Let an experienced Boston work injury lawyer fight for you.
Massachusetts workers’ compensation is no-fault insurance. This means that regardless who was at fault you are still entitled to these benefits-unless the worker’s illness or injury was caused by his or her “serious and willful misconduct, then no benefits are owed. If it was the employer’s “serious and willful misconduct,” an injured worker may be entitled to double the Massachusetts workers’ compensation benefits.
DRAMATIC RISE IN RANKS OF U.S. “PERMATEMP” WORKERS: EMPLOYMENT STUDY, Free Speech News, May 14, 2014
National Employment Law Project
Temp agency is warned by state, Boston.com, March 6, 2014
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
Mass Workers’ Compensation, Mass.gov
More Blog Posts:
Years Later, MA Employers May Try to Discontinue Benefits, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog, May 5, 2014
48 Massachusetts Workers Killed at Work Last Year, Says Report, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation, April 28, 2014
