In August 2017, Governor Baker signed off on a $200 million health care assessment on Massachusetts employers, in an effort to control growth in Medicaid and state health care spending.  Read the article to learn more about the new temporary assessment on MA employers.

In an amendment to the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices Act, the state of Massachusetts has expressly included pregnancy as a protected characteristic and expands accommodation requirements for pregnant employees. The amended law goes into effect April 1, 2018.

Seven (7) states have joined the growing list of states legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal and/or recreational purposes.  Arkansas, California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, and North Dakota passed new marijuana laws on election day, bringing the total states (plus the District of Columbia) with medical marijuana laws to 28 and the total states (plus the District of Columbia) with recreational marijuana laws to eight (8).  

In Massachusetts, the law requires employers to adopt a written policy against sexual harassment and to distribute the policy at the time of hire and annually. 

Effective October 1, 2016, transgender individuals in Massachusetts will have the legal right to use restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity, regardless of their assigned sex. Additionally, no place of public accommodation (that is any place that is open to and solicits the patronage of the general public) will be allowed to discriminate or advertise in a way that discriminates based on gender identity.