Legislative Overview:

The legislative session ended on Thursday, June 10th at 6 P.M. after almost nine weeks of fast-paced and often contentious debate. LFT has tracked hundreds of bills throughout the session and sent our members and affiliate leaders regular updates with the most important information.

Now that the session has ended and the dust has settled, here are the main bills that impact teachers, school employees and students. Like at the end of every session, there is cause for both celebration and dread. We end this session knowing there is more that must be done to help teachers, school employees and students, and through our collective power we will continue to work towards those goals. Here’s what you need to know:

There is good news on the horizon for Massachusetts schools and students. Massachusetts school districts are slated to receive more than $2 billion in federal education aid over the coming year, thanks to federal COVID-19 relief packages passed since March 2020, the most recent being the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This federal money, in tandem with promised state-level investments in K-12 education, could have a positive impact on Massachusetts students for years to come.

It is useful to think of the two streams of funding—federal ESSER and state SOA—as working in tandem. Full ESSER funds (from Rounds I, II, and III) will arrive in districts over the next year for use through September 2024. Meanwhile, state SOA monies will ramp up steadily over six years—with new money added each year on top of the previous year’s baseline—until full funding of SOA is achieved in 2027. What this means is that districts could strategically use ESSER funds now to accelerate investments in students and schools (e.g., smaller classes, more social workers and nurses, better wages for paraprofessionals, HVAC improvements, etc.) and then use SOA funds to sustain those investments. The timing is quite conducive to this strategy, with SOA ramping up at the same time that ESSER ramps down. 

Click here for this week's update

In This issue:

1) Two different schools, same district Part 2

2) Evaluation Update

3) Kudos

4) Teacher of the Year

5) 2021-2022 Pay Calendar

And More!

AFT Convention 2022 Delegates

AFTMA Convention 2022 Delegates

North Shore Labor Council Delegates SY 21-22

This Saturday, June 12, the MVCLC will be hosting a Food Bank at the Tenney School in Methuen, MA.  All proceeds will benefit Methuen Cares.  If you would like to volunteer or have questions, please contact Tom Raiche:  781-608-6443.

In a flurry of legislative activity, legislators in both the House and Senate have introduced a number of bills that would greatly harm public education.

June 4, 2021

To: Members of the General Assembly

From: Jerry Jordan 

Re: Updated Legislative Positions

Type of Employment (W2 v 1099)

• Chart: This v. that

Wages & Compensation

• What you’re compensated for

  • Meetings

  • Mandatory trainings

  • Marketing events

  • Class prep (preclass, postclass)

• Sick pay

• Increases 

Employment Practices:

• Continuing Development

  • Training

  • Performance Reviews

• Class cancellation & subbing

  • Breakout doc: Emergency protocol

• Scheduling

• Marketing, advertising expectations

• Uniform requirements

1. What is a 1099 [Independent Contractor] vs a W-2 [Employee]?

• Independent contractors are hired as outside workers; meaning they are not considered part of the company and therefore do not have tax withheld by you.

• An employee is under contract to work for you as part of your company, which withholds taxes from the employee's wages. The way you treat an employee is governed by federal and state employment and labor laws.

2. Non-Compete & Non-Solicitation Expectations:

• Non Compete: In contract law, a non-compete clause, or covenant not to compete, is a clause under which one party agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition against another party. Some courts refer to these as "restrictive covenants.

• Non-solicitation: In contract law, refers to an agreement, typically between an employer and employee, that prohibits an employee from utilizing the company's clients, customers, and contact lists for personal gain upon leaving the company. 

[LINK]

• ExpectationsEmployees [W-2] - harsher punishments and can be sued by employers if breached.  
  Contractors [1099] - less harsher punishments if breached as burden of proof for non-solicitation / non-compete must be documented. Most courts in the United States will not enforce a non-compete clause when it places an unreasonable restraint on the independent contractors’ ability to work.

3. Compensation for Trainings, Meetings, Uniforms: 

• All trainings, meetings, and time spent performing work-related tasks should be compensated.

• Compensation must be equal to or exceed minimum wage, and should be paid in addition to the per-class rate.

• There is no such thing as an "optional" training or meeting.

• All of these should be paid and attendance enforced in a fair and equitable way. Paid trainings and meetings should be built into the contract with an agreed-upon rate of payment.

• Uniforms can not be required for independent contractors.

• If you are an employee your uniform should be provided free of cost. 

4. Compensation for time worked Cleaning and Managing the front desk:

• Employees performing work-related tasks MUST be compensated.

  • Compensation must be equal to or exceeding minimum wage. This includes cleaning of the gym/studio, managing a front desk, processing payments, making changes to client accounts outside on personal devices outside of the gym/studio, and programming/sequencing and playlisting. 

• Independent Contractors should be wary of time spent performing duties not explicitly outlined in their contracts and should feel comfortable asserting their knowledge of employment law when asked to fulfill a role closely resembling or identical to that of an employee. 

5.