Employment

Hard work will lift us out of poverty -- that promise has long been an article of faith in this country.  Most families experiencing poverty are working, and yet far too many families still find it difficult to make ends meet as the gap between the richest and poorest Americans continues to widen.  The difficulties low-wage workers face are often compounded by a lack of job supports, such as after-school child care and transportation assistance, by dangerous or unhealthful working conditions, and -- particularly during this Great Recession -- by layoffs or reductions in work hours.

MLRI’s Employment Law Unit is dedicated to advancing reforms to ensure that employment truly offers a path out of poverty.  We work to ensure that wages keep pace with living costs, that job supports are available, that discrimination in employment is not accepted, that workplaces are safe, and, when work is unavailable, that the Unemployment Insurance program provides a reliable safety net.  Some of MLRI's initiatives include:

Helping Unemployed Workers and the State’s Economy Maximize Unemployment Insurance Benefits: 

In response to the economic recession that began in 2008 and continues today, Congress has enacted legislation to provide federally-funded extensions of unemployment benefits on nine occasions, often for limited periods of time.  MLRI has played a significant role in ensuring that unemployed workers in the state have up-to-date information about the eligibility requirements for and the duration of these federal UI extensions.  MLRI has also worked to keep state policymakers informed of the latest relevant federal laws, to the benefit of the state's economy. For example, MLRI was part of a successful effort to persuade the state to take advantage of a federal option to extend unemployment benefits for laid-off private sector employees.  The decision by the state to opt in to this program resulted in millions of dollars in Unemployment Insurance benefits flowing into Massachusetts, bolstering the state's economy and, because UI benefits are taxable, providing additional revenue for the state's Treasury as well. 

Promoting the Earned Income Tax Credit:

MLRI has long been involved in efforts to persuade the state to increase its outreach to low-income families to make them aware of the Earned Income Tax Credit Program, one of the most effective anti-poverty initiatives available for working families. These efforts were rewarded by the Patrick Administration, which agreed that additional outreach would benefit not only the state's low-income residents but also state and local economies, where the tax credits earned by working families are spent.  A state Earned Income Tax Credit campaign now provides additional outreach about the program, increasing participation among eligible Massachusetts residents.

 Protecting Workers Forced to Seek Part-Time Employment:

When an employer refused an employee’s request to reduce her hours so she that could be home when her son was not in school and no other daycare help was available, the employee had no choice but to leave her job. She applied for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits to help support her family while she looked for part-time work, but the state’s UI agency denied her claim for benefits, citing a policy that only claimants who already had a history of part-time work could collect UI while searching for part-time work.

In response, attorneys from MLRI and Greater Boston Legal Services took her case to Superior Court, successfully arguing that the agency’s policy violated the Massachusetts UI statute. The outcome of this case was a victory not only for the affected employee, but for all Massachusetts workers who are confronted with changes to their personal circumstances which necessitate applying for UI benefits while they search for part-time employment.

Challenging Unfair Practices by the MA Division of Unemployment Assistance:

MLRI recently noticed a growing pattern in which UI claimants were not only denied UI benefits, but were also wrongly charged with fraud in even applying for UI. These fraud charges, if allowed to stand, would have carried significant monetary penalties, and in many of the cases in which fraud was being alleged, the claimants were in fact eligible for UI.  In response, MLRI and Greater Boston Legal Services filed a lawsuit against the Department of Unemployment Assistance to end these harmful practices. A meeting with the Secretary of the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development has led to an agreement in principle to correct the problems that have led to these baseless fraud charges and to review the cases of those UI claimants accused of fraud.  

Fighting Discrimination in the Workplace:

MLRI is an active member of a group of worker-side employment lawyers who have filed amicus briefs in many cases before the Supreme Judicial Court concerning the interpretation of the state's anti-discrimination laws.  In two cases decided in 2011, the Court's opinions sided with the position taken by the amici on the issue of the authority of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination to prosecute claims of discrimination and the issue of an employer's potential liability for retaliatory conduct occurring after the employment relationship has ended.