Several old, but still effective, Massachusetts statutes severely limit the number of hours those employed in the construction of public projects may work. Massachusetts General Laws c.149, §30 restricts laborers, workers, mechanics, foremen and inspectors from working more than 8 hours in any one day, and more than 6 days and 48 hours in any one week.
This statute effectively prohibits overtime during the regular work week because no worker may work more than a regular 8 hour shift. It limits overtime to either Saturday or Sunday, and prevents any employee, no matter how valuable, from working more than 8 hours on either day. This statutory restriction on labor hours may be little known or enforced, but related statutes show the legislature intended that any violation have serious consequences. M.G.L. c. 149, §34 requires that public contracts contain a provision stating this labor restriction, and it explicitly states that if this provision is not included, the contract itself is "null and void." In addition, M.G.L. c. 30, §35 provides that any contractor or subcontractor who violates the statute by working its employees more than the maximum allowable hours, is subject to both fine and imprisonment. There are of course some exceptions. Two exceptions are well defined, but narrow in scope and application. These labor hour restrictions do not apply to contracts awarded by cities or towns which have not voted to accept these labor restrictions; nor do they apply to state highway projects where the attorney general has ruled that "public necessity" requires longer hours. Both of these exceptions are extraordinary and must be verified on a project by project basis.
The final exception is both the broadest and most ambiguous. The statute provides that these labor hour restrictions do not apply in "cases of emergency." But it is not clear from the statutory language what constitutes an acceptable emergency. A related statute defines "Extraordinary Emergency" as "danger to property, life, public safety or public health", but does not define a plain emergency, which must be something less. This uncertainty allows a degree of flexibility in justifying some overtime in response to unexpected events. Nevertheless, an emergency, by even a dictionary definition, is limited to "an unforeseen combination of circumstances that calls for immediate action." The point is that any contractor or subcontractor who either wants, or is ordered, to accelerate completion must determine at its own peril whether it can do so by means of overtime. Except in cases of true emergency, the act of ordering employees to work more than eight hours in one day or more than 48 hours spread over a six day work week, could be a direct violation of law with serious and costly consequences to the employer.
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