News

Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane Attorneys Present their Annual Legal Update for Cape Cod Human Resources Association

Nan O’Neill, Sarah Spatafore and Kier Wachterhauser, attorneys at law from Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane recently presented their Annual Legal Update for the Cape Cod Human Resources Association. This year the topics focused on lessons from the year’s top cases & regulatory and statutory update, Employment Leave in Massachusetts: a refresher and practical guidance on the multitude of Federal and State Leave Laws, and drug testing in the wake of marijuana legalization.

Kier Wachterhauser and Sarah Spatafore presented a comprehensive overview of major legislative, regulatory and case law developments during the past year. Important cases coming out of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Judicial Court addressed Wage Act damages, overtime exemptions, discrimination laws, and arbitration agreements. The statutory and regulatory update included an overview of the multitude of recent statutory and regulatory changes, such as increasing minimum wages, MA paid family medical leave, and wage and hour updates from the Department of Labor.

Nan O’Neill gave practical guidance on some of the biggest issues facing employers today, the leave law issue including the implementation of the new MA PFML and the intersection of the often overlapping leave laws including FMLA, ADA, Worker’s compensation, MA Earned Sick Time, domestic leave, and small necessities leave. The session offered an overview of the major leave laws and practical guidance on implementation and compliance as employers continue to grapple with the intricacies of the PFML.

Kier Wachterhauser focused on drug testing in the wake of the legalization of recreational marijuana in MA, including the conflict between state and federal law, pre-employment testing issues, as well as implementation and constraints regarding random drug testing and reasonable suspicion drug testing.

Latest News

Statutory Regulations Released for Interagency Review of Complex Cases

On March 1, 2024, EOHHS and DESE released the long-awaited, final adoption of the regulations governing the Interagency Review of Complex Cases (published as 101 CMR 27.00). These regulations had been anticipated since the Massachusetts Legislature passed “An Act Addressing Barriers to Care for Mental Health” in August, 2022. The purpose of the law is the establishment of a team that will collaborate on complex cases where there is an urgent need to address a lack of consensus between state agencies about the service needs or placement of an individual. This replaces what was known as the Unified Planning Team, or “UPT”. The co-chairs of the IRT will be the secretary (or a designee) from EOHHS and the commissioner (or a designee) of DESE.

Legal Updates

Statutory Regulations Released for Interagency Review of Complex Cases

On March 1, 2024, EOHHS and DESE released the long-awaited, final adoption of the regulations governing the Interagency Review of Complex Cases (published as 101 CMR 27.00). These regulations had been anticipated since the Massachusetts Legislature passed “An Act Addressing Barriers to Care for Mental Health” in August, 2022. The purpose of the law is the establishment of a team that will collaborate on complex cases where there is an urgent need to address a lack of consensus between state agencies about the service needs or placement of an individual. This replaces what was known as the Unified Planning Team, or “UPT”. The co-chairs of the IRT will be the secretary (or a designee) from EOHHS and the commissioner (or a designee) of DESE.

Braintree, MA

50 Braintree Hill Office Park, Suite 410,
Braintree, MA 02184

Boston, MA

75-101 Federal Street
Boston, MA 02110

Tel: (617) 479-5000
Tel: (888) 841-4850
Fax: (617) 479-6469

Quincy, MA

Crown Colony Plaza
300 Crown Colony Drive, Suite 410
P.O. Box 9126
Quincy, MA 02169-9126

© 2024 Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP. All Rights Reserved. Website by Interactive Palette