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An Act to Correct the Treble Damages law

SECTION 1.  Section 27 of chapter 149 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:
Any employee claiming to be aggrieved by a willful violation of this section may, at the expiration of 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 said 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 loss of wages and other benefits.  Any employee so aggrieved and who prevails in such an action shall be awarded triple damages, as liquidated damages, for any loss of wages and other benefits; and the employee shall also be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys' fees.

 SECTION 2.  Section 27F of said chapter 149, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:
Any employee claiming to be aggrieved by a willful violation of this section may, at the expiration of 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 said 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 loss of wages and other benefits.  Any employee so aggrieved and who prevails in such an action shall be awarded triple damages, as liquidated damages, for any loss of wages and other benefits; and the employee shall also be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys' fees.

SECTION 3.  Section 27G of said chapter 149, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:
Any employee claiming to be aggrieved by a willful violation of this section may, at the expiration of 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 said 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 loss of wages and other benefits.  Any employee so aggrieved and who prevails in such an action shall be awarded triple damages, as liquidated damages, for any loss of wages and other benefits; and the employee shall also be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys' fees.

 SECTION 4.  Section 27H of said chapter 149, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:
 Any employee claiming to be aggrieved by a willful violation of this section may, at the expiration of 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 said 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 loss of wages and other benefits.  Any employee so aggrieved and who prevails in such an action shall be awarded triple damages, as liquidated damages, for any loss of wages and other benefits; and the employee shall also be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys' fees.

 SECTION 5.  Said Section 52C of said Chapter 149 as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking lines 37 to 41 and inserting in place thereof the following:
An employer shall notify an employee within 10 days of the employer placing in the employee’s personnel record any information to the extent that the information is used or has been used or may be used to negatively affect the employee’s qualification for employment, promotion, transfer, additional compensation or disciplinary action.  Any employer receiving a written request from an employee shall provide the employee with an opportunity to review his personnel record within five business days of such request.  The review shall take place at the place of employment and during normal business hours.  An employee shall be given a copy of his personnel record within five business days of submission of a written request for such copy to his employer.  An employer shall not be required to allow an employee to review his personnel record on more than two (2) separate occasions in any calendar year, provided however that the notification and review caused by the placing of any negative information in the personnel record shall not be considered one of the two annually permitted reviews.

SECTION 6.  Section 52C of said chapter 149 is amended by inserting at the end of said Section 52C the following new section:
Section 52D.  (A) Unless otherwise provided by law, an employer, or an employer’s designee, who discloses information about a current or former employee to a prospective employer of the employee shall be absolutely immune from civil liability if the disclosed information includes any or all of the following: (1) date of employment; (2) pay level; (3) job description and duties; and (4) wage history.  An employer who responds in writing to a written request concerning a former employee from a prospective employer of that employee shall be absolutely immune from civil liability if the disclosed information includes either or both of the following: (1) written employee evaluations which were conducted prior to the employee’s separation from the employer; and (2) whether the employee was voluntarily or involuntarily released from service and the reasons for the separation.

 SECTION 7.  Section 148 of said chapter 149, is hereby amended in line 2 by striking out the words "weekly or bi-weekly" and inserting in place thereof the following words:  "weekly, biweekly or semi-monthly".

SECTION 8. Section 150 of said chapter 149, as amended by section 2 of chapter 99 of the acts of 2005, is hereby further amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph: 
Any employee claiming to be aggrieved by a willful violation of sections 33E, 148, 148A, 148B, 150C, 152, 152A or 159C or section 19 of chapter 151 may, at the expiration of 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 said 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 loss of wages and other benefits.  Any employee so aggrieved and who prevails in such an action shall be awarded triple damages, as liquidated damages, for any loss of wages and other benefits; and the employee shall also be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys' fees.