Notice and Recordkeeping

(1) Written Evaluation. A domestic worker may request a written evaluation of his or her work performance from an employer after three months of employment and annually thereafter. A domestic worker may inspect and dispute any written evaluation as provided under M.G.L. c. 149, § 52C. (2) Recordkeeping. An employer who employs a domestic worker shall keep a true and accurate record of wages and hours for three years in accordance with M.G.L. c. 151, § 15. 32.04: continued (3) Written Agreement. An employer who employs a domestic worker for 16 hours or more per week shall provide to the domestic worker, and retain for a period of three years from the date when services were performed, signed and dated by both the worker and employer, a written agreement in a language or languages easily understood by both the worker and employer(s), regarding the following information: (a) the rate of pay, including overtime and additional compensation for added duties or multilingual skills; (b) working hours, including meal periods and other time off; (c) if applicable, the provisions for days of rest, sick days, vacation days, personal days, holidays, transportation, health insurance, severance and yearly raises and whether or not earned vacation days, personal days, holidays, severance, transportation and health insurance costs are paid or reimbursed; (d) any fees or other costs, including costs for meals and lodging; (e) the responsibilities, including regularity, associated with the job; (f) the process for raising and addressing grievances and additional compensation if new duties are added; (g) the right to collect workers' compensation benefits if injured on the job; (h) if applicable, the circumstances under which the employer may enter the domestic worker's designated living space on the employer's premises; (i) the required notice of employment termination by the employer and by the domestic worker; (j) any additional benefits afforded to the domestic worker by the employer; and (k) for live-in domestic workers only, a description of what the employer deems as cause for purposes of immediate termination and removal within 48 hours from the employer's home without severance pay. An employer need not list all conduct that would constitute cause for termination but shall make a good faith effort to describe the circumstances that would result in the worker's loss of lodging and severance. (4) Time Sheet. (a) An employer who employs a domestic worker for 16 hours or more a week shall provide a time sheet, in hard copy or electronic format, to the domestic worker at least once every two weeks, recording the hours of compensable time worked each day in the preceding two weeks, in a language easily understood by the domestic worker. (b) An employer must provide a reasonable opportunity for a domestic worker to acknowledge agreement with the employer's recordingof the compensable time worked each day, by signing or acknowledging the time sheets either in writing or by some electronic method. The employer shall provide the domestic worker with a copy (whether in paper or electronic form) of the time sheet signed or otherwise acknowledged by both the employer and domestic worker. (c) If the domestic worker disagrees with the employer's records of the hours actually worked on any given day, the employer shall provide the domestic worker with the opportunity to note the number of hours he or she believes to have been worked on any given day, on that time sheet alongside the employer's record of hours worked. (d) Any signing or acknowledgement of the time sheet by the domestic worker shall be done without prejudice to the domestic worker's rights to payment of wages for compensable time actually worked. (e) In any dispute concerning the hours worked, the domestic worker's failure or refusal to sign a time sheet shall not relieve the employer of the obligation to pay wages in the manner required by M.G.L. c. 149, M.G.L. c. 151, or 940 CMR 32.00. (5) An employer's obligation to provide the information required under 940 CMR 32.04(3)(a) through (k) shall occur prior to the domestic worker's performance of any services. (6) Prior to the domestic worker's performance of any services, an employer shall provide a domestic worker with a notice that contains all applicable Massachusetts and federal laws that apply to the employment of domestic workers. 32.04: continued (7) An employer who employs a domestic worker for 16 hours or more a week and fails to comply with the record-keeping requirements of 940 CMR 32.04, including the maintenance of time sheets, notices, written evaluations, and written agreements, shall have violated M.G.L. c. 151, § 19(3), and may be subject to a civil citation or order as provided in M.G.L. c. 149, § 27C. (8) An employer may satisfy the notice of rights requirements under 940 CMR 32.04(6) by providing a domestic worker with a physical copy (or if the domestic worker prefers, an electronic copy) in the worker's native language (if available on the website) of the Attorney General's Notice of Domestic Workers Rights available on the Attorney General's website at www.mass.gov/ago/dw. (9) An employer shall furnish all records maintained relating to a domestic worker to the Attorney General upon demand.