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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2024 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2073
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Daniel Cahill
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act to prohibit mandatory overtime.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Daniel Cahill10th Essex1/15/2025Rodney M. Elliott16th Middlesex2/13/2025Rebecca L. RauschNorfolk, Worcester and Middlesex2/13/2025Brian W. Murray10th Worcester2/13/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire2/13/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/13/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex2/13/2025Jacob R. OliveiraHampden, Hampshire and Worcester2/13/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex2/13/2025Jason M. LewisFifth Middlesex2/13/2025Antonio F. D. Cabral13th Bristol2/13/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester2/26/2025Adam J. Scanlon14th Bristol3/3/2025Margaret R. Scarsdale1st Middlesex3/5/2025Mary S. Keefe15th Worcester3/5/2025 1 of 3
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2024 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2073
By Representative Cahill of Lynn, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2073) of Daniel
Cahill and others for legislation to prohibit health care worker mandatory overtime. Labor and
Workforce Development.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act to prohibit mandatory overtime.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 111 of the Massachusetts General Laws, as appearing in the 2018
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out section 226, and inserting in place thereof the
3following section:-
4 Section 226. (a) For the purposes of this section the following words shall, unless the
5context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
6 "Facility" shall mean a hospital licensed under section 51 of this chapter, the teaching
7hospital of the University of Massachusetts medical school, any licensed private or state-owned
8and state-operated general acute care hospital, an acute psychiatric hospital, an acute care
9specialty hospital, any acute care unit within a state operated healthcare facility, or a medium-
10security state correctional facility for male inmates located in Plymouth County that is operated
11and maintained by a private company under contract with the Department of Corrections. For 2 of 3
12purposes of this section, facility shall not include rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing
13facilities, other long-term care facilities, or any other Massachusetts correctional facilities.
14 "Health Care Workforce" shall mean personnel employed by or contracted to work at a
15facility who have an effect upon the delivery of quality care to patients, including but not limited
16to registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, unlicensed assistive personnel, service,
17maintenance, clerical, professional and technical workers, and all other health care workers. For
18purposes of this section, doctors, interns, residents and facility management personnel, as well as
19any correctional facility security personnel not providing health care services, shall not be
20considered the health care workforce.
21 “Mandatory Overtime'' shall mean any hours worked by a member of the health care
22workforce in a facility to deliver patient care, beyond the predetermined and regularly scheduled
23number of hours that the hospital and a member of the health care workforce have agreed that the
24employee shall work, provided that in no case shall such predetermined and regularly scheduled
25number of hours exceed 12 hours in any 24-hour period.
26 (b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a facility shall not require
27a member of the health care workforce to work mandatory overtime except in the case of an
28emergency situation where the safety of the patient requires its use and when there is no
29reasonable alternative.
30 (c) Under subsection (b), whenever there is an emergency situation where the safety of a
31patient requires its use and when there is no reasonable alternative, the facility shall, before
32requiring overtime, make a good faith effort to have such hours covered on a voluntary basis. 3 of 3
33Mandatory overtime shall not be used as a regular practice for providing appropriate staffing for
34the level of patient care required.
35 (d) Under subsection (c), the health policy commission established under section 2 of
36chapter 6D, shall further develop guidelines and procedures to determine what constitutes an
37emergency situation for the purposes of allowing mandatory overtime. In developing those
38guidelines, the commission shall consult with those employees and employers who would be
39affected by such a policy. The commission shall solicit comment from those same parties
40through a public hearing.
41 (e) Facilities shall report all instances of mandatory overtime and the circumstances
42requiring its use to the department of public health or, in the case of the aforementioned medium-
43security state correctional institution, by the contracting management company and to the
44department of corrections. Such reports shall be public documents.
45 (f) A member of the health care workforce shall not be allowed to exceed 16 consecutive
46hours worked in a 24-hour period. In the event a member of the health care workforce works 16
47consecutive hours, that member of the health care workforce must be given at least 8 consecutive
48hours of off-duty time immediately-after the worked overtime.
49 (g) This section is intended as a remedial measure to protect the public health and the
50quality and safety of patient care and shall not be construed to diminish or waive any rights of
51the member of the healthcare workforce under other laws, regulations or collective bargaining
52agreements. The refusal of a member of the healthcare workforce to accept work in excess of the
53limitations set forth in this section shall not be grounds for discrimination, dismissal, discharge
54or any other employment decision.