"At-Will" Employment State Massachusetts is an “at-will” employment state. What this means is that unless you have a contract or other specific circumstances apply, your employer may fire you 1) for any reason or no reason and 2) at any point in time. In other words, if you are an at-will employee, you may be fired or quit without giving notice. This is a hard rule of law for most employees to understand because in many cases it is unfair. As an example of how unfair this rul

What Is Child Support? Child support is a court-ordered payment, typically made by a non-custodial parent, to support one’s minor child. Generally, the parent who the child lives with most of the time is called the “custodial parent,” and the other parent is called the “non-custodial parent.” Most often, the non-custodial parent pays child support to the custodial parent. Child support is an amount paid by one parent to another parent to make sure that their child is taken ca

What is Divorce? Put simply, divorce is a court judgement that ends an existing marriage. In Massachusetts, because you may only be married to one person at a time as a matter of law, you must get a divorce before marrying another person. Are There Different Types of Divorce? Yes. In Massachusetts, there are a few different types of divorce, which depend upon the circumstances between spouses. For example, a divorce may be contested or uncontested. Generally speaking, “contes

In Massachusetts, there are laws that protect employees for asserting their legal rights in the workplace. There are both common law and statutory protections. These protections are very important because Massachusetts is an “at-will” employment state, which means that most employers may generally terminate an employee at any time for any reason or for no reason. However, over the course of history, many exceptions to the general rule have developed. As such, it is important

In Massachusetts, there are laws that guarantee most employees to overtime pay or “time and a half.” Under Massachusetts Law, unless otherwise exempt, employers are required to pay employees overtime at a rate of 1.5 times their regular rate if the employee works more than 40 hours during the workweek. Am I Entitled to Overtime Pay? In Massachusetts, if an employee is required or permitted to work overtime, the employer is generally required to pay the employee premium pay fo