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BECOMING A MEMBER OF RAM IS ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS YOU CAN MAKE FOR YOUR BUSINESS.  
By joining you gain access to exclusive, money saving discounts on services and programs, legislative updates and advocacy as well as valuable educational opportunities. We aim to help you grow and protect your business, promote the retail industry and save your business money.

New Deadlines for Paid Family & Medical Leave Program

With the start of the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program delayed three months, a number of the program’s compliance deadlines have been extended and the initial contribution rate has been increased to account for the loss of three months’ worth of contributions.  Employers should be aware of the following changes:
 

Notification Deadline: September 30, 2019

Contribution Rate and QuarterlyCollection: October 1, 2019

Leave Benefits: January 1, 2021 and July 1, 2021

Click here for more info on each of these deadlines.

 

LEGAL ALERT: SJC Decision Changes Overtime Requirements for 100% Commission Sales Employees

Does your business compensate any of its sales associates through a 100% commission sales model?  If so you may be violating the Massachusetts Wage and Hour laws under a recent decision by the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) in the case of Laurita Sullivan v Sleepy’s LLC which concluded that 100% commission employees are entitled to receive additional and separate compensation for hours worked over 40 in a work week and for work performed on Sunday’s and certain holidays. 

Click here to learn more.

 

MA Legislature Designates August 17th/18th as Sales Tax Holiday Weekend

The MA Legislature designated August 17th and 18th of this year as the 2019 Sales Tax Holiday weekend.  Now an annual event, no sales tax is to be charged on non-business purchases made on that weekend of single items priced $2500 or less, with certain exemptions.  Included as part of last year’s compromise that resulted in the removal of three proposed statewide ballot questions, the law calls for the date of the annual Sales Tax Holiday to be set each year by the Legislature no later than June 15th. 

Keep an eye on your email inbox and this website for additional information regarding the Sales Tax Holiday, including technical guidance and FAQ’s, which is expected to be released by the Department of Revenue (DOR) in the coming weeks

Click for the statue regarding Sales Tax Holiday.

  

Are you an award winning business?

For Main Street retailers to thrive in an internet world, you have to find unique & innovative ways to make your business stand out. 

Submit a nomination today -- for your business as well as others you think should be recognized. 

Awards will be handed out at the 21st annual RAMAE luncheon November 14, 2019 at the Conference Center at Bentley University in Waltham.

 

Click for categories and to submit nominations.

 

Business Community Opposes Reinstatement of Retail Premium Pay

On June 18th a coalition of business groups submitted a letter to the Massachusetts Legislature’s Labor and Workforce Committee opposing three bills which would undo key negotiated provisions of the Chapter 121 (of the Acts of 2018) agreement passed less than a year ago by reinstituting the Retail Premium Pay requirement for Sundays and certain holidays.  The letter also urged the committee, and the Legislature as a whole, to fix the acknowledged oversight in Chapter 121 which left unchanged three of the six negotiated Retail Premium Pay holidays, due to a drafting error.
 
Click here to view coalition letter.

 

 

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