Day of Rest (M.G.L.c. 149, ss. 48 - 52)
- Every employee in manufacturing, mechanical or mercantile establishments must be given an unbroken 24 hour rest period in every consecutive seven days of work. (M.G.L.c. 149, s. 48)
Every person employed as a watchman or employed in maintaining fires, but not including janitors in residential apartment houses, must also be given an unbroken 24 hour rest period in every consecutive seven days of work. (M.G.L.c. 149, s. 50A)
This requirement does not apply to establishments used for the manufacture or distribution of gas, electricity, milk or water, to hotels, to the transportation of food, or to the sale or delivery of food by establishments other than restaurants, or to railroads. (M.G.L.c. 149, s. 49)
This requirement does not apply to janitors, employees whose duties include no work on Sunday other than setting sponges in bakeries, caring for live animals or caring for machinery, employees engaged in any aspect of the newspaper business, farm or personal service, any labor called for by an emergency that could not have been reasonably anticipated, and pharmacists employed in drug stores. (M.G.L.c. 149, s. 50)
Every employer subject to this statute must post in a conspicuous place on the premises a schedule containing a list of the employees who are required or allowed to work on Sunday and designating the day of rest for each. (M.G.L.c. 149, s. 51)
Whoever violates this statute can be punished by a fine of $300. (M.G.L.c. 149, s. 52)
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