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
RAM Members met with members of MA Congressional Delegation
Pictured above: Bob Saquet, Eggers Furniture, Middleboro, Erin Calvo Bacci, The CB Stuffer, Swampscott and Neil Abramson, ECI Stores, Leominster met with Congressman Joe Kennedy III. The National Retail Federation hosted an advocacy seminar July 10 which culminated in hill visits. Bob Saquet was chosen from applicants across the nation to participate. To learn about his conversation with Congressman Bill Keating click on the link below.
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
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.
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.
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