Minimum Wage, Animal Welfare: MA Laws Going Into Effect In 2022

MASSACHUSETTS — With the start of 2022, Massachusetts will see the implementation of several important new laws, including increased benefits for those covered by the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave law (PFML), another minimum wage increase, and changes to animal welfare standards.

Here’s a look at some of the new state laws that will go into effect in 2022.

Paid family and medical leave

Maximum weekly benefits under the PFML are increasing from $850 to $1,084.31 per week. Employer contribution rates will also be lowered - employers with 25 or more covered individuals will now only need to pay 0.68 percent of eligible employee wages, and employers with fewer than 25 covered individuals will pay 0.34 percent.

Minimum wage

The minimum wage in Massachusetts will increase from $13.50 an hour to $14.25 an hour. The 75-cent increase is the result of legislation passed in 2018 that will gradually increase minimum wage until it reaches $15 in 2023.

This year, tipped workers’ wages will also increase from $5.55 an hour to $6.15, eventually reaching $6.75 in 2023.

Animal welfare

Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill earlier this month that sets new standards for the egg industry to try to prevent a product scarcity in 2022. The law prohibits farmers from confining any animal cruelly and bans the sale of products from animals held in violation of these standards.

Conflict has arisen surrounding this bill because it actually overrides a law voters passed in 2016 that was set to begin on Jan. 1, 2022. The changes Baker made has to do with the definition of cruel confinement, with the first approved definition being any enclosure that prevents "lying down, standing up, fully extending the animal's limbs, or turning around freely,” This would require at least 1.5 square feet of floor space per hen.

With a predicted animal product shortage in mind, the compromise legislation allows a decrease in floor space to one square foot per hen if they are placed in "multi-tiered aviaries, partially-slatted cage-free housing systems or any other cage-free housing system that provides hens with unfettered access to vertical space."

COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave

The state’s COVID-19 Temporary Emergency Paid Sick Leave program is set to expire on April 1, 2022. The law was implemented on May 28, 2021 and was amended on September 29, 2021 to extend the duration of the program and expand the reasons employees may take leave under the law.

Open Meeting Law

Baker’s Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law, which allows for remote meetings, is also set to expire on April 1, 2022 after being in place for over a year. This means local government meetings will once again need to be held in place that is physically accessible to the public.