Massachusetts Overtime Laws for Hourly Employees (2026)

The rule

	Massachusetts
Weekly threshold	Over 40 hours in a workweek: at least 1.5 times the regular rate (M.G.L. c. 151, s. 1A)
Daily threshold	None. State law does not call for overtime after 8 hours in a day
Exempt workplaces (state law)	Hotels, motels, and similar establishments; restaurants; gasoline stations; hospitals, nursing homes, rest homes, and similar facilities; nonprofit schools and colleges; nonprofit summer camps; and qualifying seasonal businesses and amusement parks
Exempt jobs (state law)	Bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees; outside salespeople and buyers; farm laborers; fishermen; truck drivers and helpers under federal motor carrier rules; and other roles listed in section 1A
Federal rule still applies	An employee exempt under state law may still be owed overtime after 40 hours under the FLSA. The Attorney General says the most worker-protective law applies
Regular rate	The state statute leaves commissions and sales or production bonuses out of the regular rate. The FLSA includes nondiscretionary bonuses and commissions, so FLSA-covered employers must include them
Comp time	Not allowed in place of overtime pay for nonexempt employees
Sunday and holiday premium	The retail Sunday and holiday premium pay requirement was eliminated effective January 1, 2023
Remedy	Each week and each underpaid employee is a separate offense. An employee who wins in court gets treble damages on lost overtime, plus costs and attorney's fees (M.G.L. c. 151, s. 1B)
Records	Payroll records with hours worked each day and each week, kept for three years; workers may see their own records

State exemptions do not end the question

Section 1A lists 20 exemptions, and several cover whole workplaces rather than job duties: hotels and motels, restaurants, gas stations, hospitals, nursing and rest homes, nonprofit schools and colleges, nonprofit summer camps, and qualifying seasonal businesses and amusement parks. Employees there have no overtime right under state law.

That is rarely the end of it. The state Department of Labor Standards puts it plainly: restaurant employees are exempt from overtime under state law, but not under federal law. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covers any business with at least $500,000 in annual sales and every hospital and nursing home regardless of size, so hourly staff at most of these workplaces are still owed time and a half after 40 hours.

What counts toward the 40 hours

Overtime is based on hours actually worked in the workweek. Holiday pay for a day not worked does not count toward the 40, so an employee who works 40 hours and also gets 8 hours of holiday pay is owed 48 hours of pay but no overtime.

The state statute excludes commissions, drawing accounts, bonuses, and other incentive pay based on sales or production from the regular rate. Federal law does not: nondiscretionary bonuses and commissions go into the FLSA regular rate. An employer covered by both laws has to use the federal calculation, because it produces the higher overtime rate.

Why mistakes cost triple

Section 1B makes each week and each underpaid employee a separate offense and lets employees sue on their own behalf or for a group. An employee who wins is awarded treble damages, as liquidated damages, on the lost overtime, plus litigation costs and reasonable attorney's fees. An agreement to work for less than the overtime rate is not a defense, and the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division can also issue citations.

Worked example: a 20-person commercial cleaning company

A cleaner paid $20 an hour works five 9-hour nights: 45 hours in the workweek. Cleaning companies are not on the state exemption list, so section 1A applies.

Massachusetts has no daily overtime, so the 9-hour nights earn regular pay on their own.
40 hours at $20: $800. 5 hours at $30 (1.5 times $20): $150. Gross: $950.
If payroll paid all 45 hours at straight time ($900), the shortfall is $50 for the week. Under section 1B, a court awards three times the lost overtime, $150, plus costs and attorney's fees. Repeated every week for a year, one employee's $2,600 shortfall becomes $7,800 before fees.

How to track it

Massachusetts requires payroll records that show hours worked each day and each week, kept for three years, and workers have the right to see their own records. With treble damages at stake, the punch-level record is what settles a dispute, not a schedule or a weekly total typed into payroll.

ClockOut stores every punch with a timestamp, totals hours by the company's workweek, warns managers when someone is projected to pass 40 hours, and exports daily and weekly hours to CSV, Gusto, ADP, or QuickBooks. Punch controls such as geofences and early clock-in limits keep unscheduled minutes from adding up to unplanned overtime. ClockOut does not decide whether a state exemption applies. The weekly threshold is a company setting, any plan can mark a person exempt from overtime, and on Pro a work rule set can give one group its own threshold or no overtime. A restaurant or hotel should keep its hourly staff at 40 unless it has confirmed the FLSA does not cover them.

Massachusetts overtime FAQ

Does Massachusetts have daily overtime?

No. The Department of Labor Standards says state law does not call for overtime after 8 hours in a day. Overtime is owed only for hours worked over 40 in the workweek.

Do restaurant and hotel workers get overtime in Massachusetts?

Not under state law, which exempts employees of restaurants, hotels, motels, and similar establishments. Federal law usually still applies, though: the state itself says restaurant employees are exempt under state law but not under federal law, and a business with at least $500,000 in annual sales pays overtime after 40 hours under the FLSA.

Is Sunday or holiday work paid at time and a half?

Not by law anymore. The premium pay requirement for certain retail employees on Sundays and some holidays was eliminated effective January 1, 2023. Retail work on New Year's Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day must still be voluntary, and holiday pay for a day not worked does not count toward the 40 hours.

Can an employee agree to skip overtime or take comp time instead?

No. An employer and employee cannot make any agreement to violate the overtime law, comp time cannot replace overtime pay for nonexempt workers, and section 1B says an agreement to work for less is not a defense.

Sources, checked September 23, 2026

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change; check the linked source.