How Are Your Holiday Sales?
During the season, RAM tracks and reports on statewide holiday sales figures. We greatly appreciate your assistance in completing this initial three question survey on your November sales. Please check back periodically and provide us your updated numbers throughout the holiday season.
Click here to respond to the survey.
Thank you for your assistance and participation. We wish you a safe and prosperous holiday season!
Beneficial Ownership Information
Reporting Requirement
RAM members are reminded of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s new Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting requirement. Under the 2021 Corporate Transparency Act, companies doing business in the United States must now report certain information about the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control them.
The law is applied broadly and covers most businesses including corporations, limited liability companies, and any other entities created by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or any similar office in the United States, or entities formed under the law of a foreign country and registered to do business in the United States.
Filing is simple, secure, and free of charge. Click here to read more.
2025 Retail Holiday Calendar
RAM’s 2025 Retail Holiday Calendar is now available for download.
Paid Family and Medical Leave Contribution
Rate Remains Unchanged for 2025
Most Massachusetts employers must make payroll withholdings on behalf of their workforce to comply with the state Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law. The rate of contribution for the program is determined annually by the Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML).
DFML recently announced that effective January 1, 2025, the contribution rate on eligible employee wages will remain at 0.88%. Members are reminded that employers with fewer than 25 covered workers are not required to pay the employer share of the medical leave contribution but are responsible for sending the funds withheld from covered workers’ wages—effectively 0.46% of eligible wages. The announcement also increases the program’s maximum weekly benefit amount to $1170.64—up from $1149.90 in 2024. Members utilizing private plans are advised to review their policy to ensure it meets the new maximum weekly benefit amount.
RAM members are also reminded that the law requires that employers annually notify their current employees of the new contribution rate 30 days in advance of the rate change. The notice may be provided electronically and does not require an updated signature. Updated rate sheets and the required 2025 Workplace Poster are available for download here. For more information please visit the DFML website.
Retailers Facing “Lie Detector” Lawsuits in MA
There has recently been an increase in the number of Massachusetts retailers that have found themselves the target of “lie detector” lawsuits seeking $500 in damages per violation for failing to include statutorily required notifications in their job applications.
Under Massachusetts law employers are prohibited from subjecting employees and job applicants to lie detector tests, or requesting that they submit to such tests, as a condition of employment. The law also requires that employers include the following disclosure in all applications for employment:
''It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.''
Statutory penalties for violations of the law range from $300 to $1,000 for a first offense, and up to $1,500 or 90 days imprisonment for second and subsequent violations. Furthermore, the courts have recognized that the law allows for a private right of action.
RAM members are strongly urged to review their existing job applications to ensure compliance with the disclosure requirement.
DOL Overtime Rule Invalidated
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule on overtime has been invalidated by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas for all employers nationwide. As previously reported by RAM back in April, the rule called for employers to increase the salary amount threshold for determining worker eligibility for overtime exemptions in two phases effective July 1, 2024 and January 1, 2025. Due to this decision, which found that the DOL overstepped its regulatory authority, the minimum salary threshold for overtime exemption returns to $35,568, and the threshold for highly compensated employees returns to $107,432. While the DOL has the right to appeal this decision, it is expected that such efforts will be abandoned by the incoming Administration. Employers that may have updated their compensation models in advance of the July 1st deadline to comply with the invalidated final rule may now revert to these previous thresholds listed above.
