The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Massachusetts
- Level
- State
- Authority
- G.L. c. 149, s. 6 (Attorney General's authority over workplace safety requirements) and c. 149 generally (Fair Labor Division enforcement); statement of the requirements of COVID-19 Order No. 33 and the DLS/DPH Mandatory Safety Standards for Workplaces
- Issued
- 2020-05-20 May 20, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-05-20
- End
- The mandatory standards it describes were rescinded 12:01 a.m. May 29, 2021 (Ex. MA-048); the release remains published (read as 2021-05-29)
- In force
- May 20, 2020 to May 29, 2021
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q2
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Workplace rulesStanding dutyOperating condition
- Addressees
- employers; all businesses permitted to operate brick-and-mortar premises
- Character
- agency position statement
- Collection
- Standing duties: Massachusetts DUT-MA
Operative words
All businesses in Massachusetts must develop a written plan for how they will comply with these mandatory standards before they can reopen.... In addition, employers must post a completed compliance attestation poster where employees and customers can see it.
Penalty
Enforcement by the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division of 'state wage, hour and certain workplace laws'; the underlying orders' $300 civil fine and injunction (Ex. MA-017, MA-019)
What it required
The Attorney General stated the rule as mandatory for every workplace (written control plan before reopening; posted attestation; sector-specific protocols) and opened an online complaint form and hotline for employees to report 'Cleaning/Disinfection,' 'Failure to Display Compliance Attestation Poster,' 'Hygiene,' 'Personal Protective Equipment (PPE),' 'Requiring Symptomatic Employees to Work,' 'Retaliation' and 'Social Distancing.' Character as recorded: agency_position_statement (release, FAQ, memorandum or statement; covid_workplace_rule layer).
Retrieval noteThe release links the (now unpublished) DLS page for the Mandatory Safety Standards for Workplaces, the COVID-19 reopening control plan template and the compliance attestation poster (DUT-MA-016). It is the Attorney General's contemporaneous statement of the duty; it is recorded as a statement of the rule, not as an instrument that itself imposed it.