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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4068 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2090
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Marjorie C. Decker
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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 securing the application of Massachusetts law to employees of employers incorporated or
operating in Massachusetts who provide their labor and services remotely.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Marjorie C. Decker25th Middlesex1/17/2025 1 of 3
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4068 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2090
By Representative Decker of Cambridge, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2090) of
Marjorie C. Decker relative to remote employees. Labor and Workforce Development.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act securing the application of Massachusetts law to employees of employers incorporated or
operating in Massachusetts who provide their labor and services remotely.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Whereas the employment of workers on a remote or virtual basis has grown
2exponentially in the last decade;
3 And whereas the provision of remote services and labor has become a staple of
4contemporary employment and has proven invaluable to employers in securing a stable and
5productive workforce, employees in providing an added benefit without hampering productivity,
6and the Commonwealth in public health and other state emergencies, by facilitating “shelter-in-
7place” and “stay-at-home” orders without hampering the Commonwealth’s economic
8development or productivity;
9 The Legislature enacts the following Act:
10 SECTION 1: The Legislature hereby amends Chapter 149 of the Massachusetts General
11Laws by inserting Section 204 after Section 203: 2 of 3
12 A. Definitions.
13 Employer. For the purposes of this section, an employer is any individual, corporation,
14partnership, or other private or public entity, including any agent or officer having the
15management of such entity, that is incorporated in, headquartered in, and/or operates in the
16Commonwealth, including the Commonwealth itself, its instrumentalities, political subdivisions,
17their instrumentalities, any instrumentality of more than one of the foregoing, and any
18instrumentality of any of the foregoing and one or more other states or political subdivisions,
19who engages the services of a Remote Employee, as defined in this section, for wages,
20remuneration or other compensation, except the United States government and the government
21of any other country shall not be considered an Employer.
22 Remote Employee. A remote employee is an individual who otherwise meets the
23definition of “employee” in G.L. c. 149, § 148B(a), who is hired to perform any labor or provide
24service for an Employer, as defined in this section, that includes reporting to and transmitting
25work product to that Employer virtually (including but not limited to by telephone, video,
26website, or internet application), and not by in-person means, regardless of where the work is
27physically performed.
28 Additionally, where a work transmitted virtually is made for hire, as defined in Section
29101 of Title 17 of the United States Code, and the ordering or commissioning Employer obtains
30ownership of all the rights comprised in the copyright in the work, the individual drafting the
31work for hire, in whole or in part, is included in this definition of Remote Employee.
32 B. Absent A Clear and Unmistakable Contractual Waiver, an affirmative choice of law of
33another jurisdiction in Which the Employee Transmits Work Product for an Employer Virtually 3 of 3
34or the Employer is Incorporated, and Affirmative Compliance with the Law of that Jurisdiction,
35Massachusetts Law Shall Apply to Remote Employees Performing Work Virtually for the
36Benefit of Employers Incorporated, Headquartered, or Operating in Massachusetts.
37 Unless clearly and unmistakably designated by a written, mutually executed contract
38between the parties (which contract is not a contract of adhesion but is instead individually
39negotiated between the parties) with a provision unequivocally establishing that the law of a
40jurisdiction where (1)a Remote Employee transmits work product to the Employer virtually or
41(2) the Employer is incorporated applies rather than the law of the Commonwealth and (3) the
42contract expressly provides for compliance with all legal obligations imposed by the jurisdiction
43relevant to the employment of the Remote Employee, the laws of the Commonwealth shall
44regulate all terms and conditions of a Remote Employee’s on behalf of an Employer.
45 A contract designating the choice of law as a jurisdiction other than the Commonwealth
46shall not be effective, however, upon a showing that the Employer has failed to comply with any
47legal obligation imposed by the jurisdiction concerning the working terms or conditions of the
48Remote Employee.
49 In such a case, the laws of this Commonwealth shall regulate the terms and conditions of
50a Remote Employee.
51 SECTION 2: SECTION 1 shall be enacted January 1, 2026.