Section 27G Wages of employees of moving contractors; contracts; injunctive relief; damages - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 27G. No contract for the moving of office furniture and fixtures shall be entered into or given by the commonwealth or by a county, city, town or district unless said contract contains a stipulation requiring prescribed rates of wages, as determined by the commissioner, to be paid to the employees of a moving contractor. Any such contract which does not contain said stipulation shall be invalid, and no payment shall be made thereunder. Said rates of wages shall be requested of the commissioner by the commonwealth or by a county, city, town or district, and shall be furnished by the commissioner in a schedule containing the classifications of jobs and the rate of wages to be paid for each job. Said rates of wages shall include payments to health and welfare plans, or, if no such plan is in effect between employers and employees, the amount of such payments shall be paid directly to said employees.

An employee claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this section may, 90 days after the filing of a complaint with the attorney general, or sooner if the attorney general assents in writing, and within 3 years after the violation, institute and prosecute in his own name and on his own behalf, or for himself and for others similarly situated, a civil action for injunctive relief, for any damages incurred, and for any lost wages and other benefits. An employee so aggrieved who prevails in such an action shall be awarded treble damages, as liquidated damages, for any lost wages and other benefits and shall also be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys’ fees.