‘No Mercy’ Ruling Leaves Employers Sweating Late Paychecks

Massachusetts attorneys are advising businesses to rethink the way they pay and fire employees in the wake of a state top court decision that put them on the hook for triple damages when they’re late on a paycheck.

Compliance trainings for managers and monitoring payroll providers are just some of the things companies are doing to mitigate legal risk after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s game-changing 2022 ruling, attorneys say. Some companies have also eliminated heat-of-the-moment firings that now carry significant risk—since employees must be paid the day of their termination.

The state court’s ruling in Reuter v. City of ...