Urge your state legislators to co-sponsor workers' rights bills in Massachusetts

Workers deserve more rights

We live in a culture where corporations simply have too much power. Currently, they can:

  • Ask us to sign away our rights
  • Push us out of our jobs for any reason or no reason
  • Work while grieving a loved one
  • Check our credit in the hiring process
  • Fail to conduct investigations for reports of sexual harassment
  • Discriminate against those suffering from domestic violence
  • Retaliate against injured workers
  • Make it difficult for us to leave toxic workplaces when our healthcare is tied to our jobs
  • Silence us when we've been abused
  • Pay some workers below minimum wage
  • Not grant sufficient sick leave amid COVID-19
  • Conduct abusive scheduling practices
  • Avoid accountability for discrimination through wages and promotions
  • Steal wages
  • Block public employees from striking
  • Ask about our desired salary ranges, which has a discriminatory impact
  • Verbally abuse and sabotage workers with zero accountability

We can change this toxic culture for workers through by passing these bills into law:

Abusive waivers, S1335 / H2114
In their next job search, workers might encounter employers asking them to waive their rights to basic protections. The abusive waivers bill would void provisions in contracts waiving rights or remedies relating to claims of discrimination, nonpayment of wages or benefits, retaliation, or harassment in employment. California, Maryland, New York, Vermont, and Washington have already banned these waivers.

At-will employment, H2167
Employees are at the will of their employers aside from difficult-to-prove discrimination. Once employers push these workers out, workers have no rights. The at-will employment bill prohibiting constructive discharge and wrongful termination would address this rampant issue. Montana is the only state to ban at-will employment.

Bereavement leave, S1354 / H2188
Workers deserve time off to properly grieve a loved one without worrying about losing their jobs. Bereavement leave bills would give workers time off to address the death.

Credit reports, S1286 / H2119
Employers should not use credit reports or ask candidates to disclose their credit worthiness, standing, or capacity as criteria for employment.

Extreme Temperature Protections, S1355 / H3995
As climate change intensifies, workers in outdoor and non-climate-controlled environments are increasingly exposed to dangerous heat and cold. This legislation sets reasonable standards to protect worker health and safety in extreme temperatures.

Farm workers' fairness, H2108
This bill will expand rights for farm workers by increasing the minimum wage, changing paid time off accrual to 55 hours per year, and providing overtime pay.

Injured workers, S1310 / H2151
We need stronger anti-retaliation law. This bill provides for an administrative complaint and investigation mechanism for enforcement and otherwise addresses employer misconduct that prevents workers from receiving timely medical care and benefits.

Medicare for all, S860 / H1405
Guaranteed equitable health care access for all through a single payer health care financing system will ensure healthcare without regard to financial or employment status, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, previous health problems, or geographic location. This safety net will make it easier for workers to leave toxic workplaces. The act will provide access to healthcare services that are continuous, without the current need for repeated re-enrollments or changes when employers choose new plans and residents change jobs. Coverage shall be comprehensive and affordable, with no co-insurance, co-payments, or deductibles.

Patient handling and mobility in certain health facilities, S1535 / H2396
This bill would require healthcare facilities to adopt and implement a safe patient handling and mobility program to identify, assess, and develop strategies to control risk of injury to patients and healthcare workers associated with the lifting, transferring, repositioning, or movement of a patient or equipment.

Patient safety and equitable access to care, S1522 / H2448
Healthcare is the #1 industry for workplace abuse. and unrealistic workloads harm both healthcare workers and patients. This bill would require the Department of Public Health to set limits on the number of patients a nurse can care for at one time. Limits would be set by hospital unit. A series of public hearings would be held to provide an opportunity for stakeholder input.

Right to strike for public employees, HB2078
Withholding labor is a fundamental human right. Strikes and the threat of them are a part of the collective bargaining process, especially for teachers, police, and firefighters. This bill calls for a repeal of a state law that bans public sector workers from going on strike.

Safeguards for home healthcare workers, S1632 / H2364

This bill would require safety assessments of all home healthcare settings prior to services being provided. These assessments would include the current psychiatric/psychological/emotional status of patients, any other individuals who may be present, any criminal history of patients or other individuals who may be present as well as the surrounding environment, and the presence of any weapons. Home healthcare providers would be empowered to leave dangerous situations without loss of pay or disciplinary action and would be provided time off for healthcare workers assaulted on the job to address legal issues.

Wage theft, S1300
This bill would hold lead contractors accountable for the wage theft violations of their subcontractors as long as there is a significant connection to their business activities or operations. It would also protect workers from wage theft violations such as failure to make wage payments, failure to abide by minimum wage, prevailing wage and overtime laws, and independent contractor misclassification and strengthen workers’ protection against retaliation. Ultimately, it would promote fair competition by ensuring that all businesses, including lead contractors, play by the rules and give their workers an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work.

Warehouse worker protection, H2103 / S1307
Warehouse workers face increasingly unsafe and exploitative conditions due to demanding quotas and algorithmic management. This bill would establish standards to safeguard their health, dignity, and workplace rights.

Workplace abuse, S1291 + S1347, the Workplace Psychological Safety Act
Workplace bullying is a severe and pervasive phenomenon in the US involving a violation of the basic human right to dignity. Bullying tactics include false accusations, exclusion, withholding necessary resources, sabotage, verbal abuse, put-downs, and unreasonable demands — resulting in a host of stress-related symptoms including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and suicide ideation. This bill would hold employers accountable for abusive conduct.

Workplace violence, S1718 / H2655
The bill would require healthcare employers to perform an annual safety risk assessment and, based on those findings, develop and implement programs to minimize the danger of workplace violence to employees and patients. It would also provide time off for healthcare workers assaulted on the job to address legal issues and require semi-annual reporting of assaults on healthcare employees.

Sponsored by
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End Workplace Abuse
Westborough, MA