Hiring and onboarding in a Massachusetts restaurant
What to collect, file and avoid asking when you hire in Massachusetts, from the job posting through the first payroll.
General information about Massachusetts and federal rules, checked against the official sources linked under each answer on September 24, 2026. It is not legal or tax advice.
The employee completes and signs Section 1 no later than their first day of work for pay. The employer examines the documents and completes Section 2 within three business days of that first day, so for a Monday start, by Thursday.
If the job lasts less than three days, Section 2 is due on the first day. Only the employer can examine the documents and sign Section 2; it cannot be handed to the employee.
Use the edition dated 01/20/25; the 08/01/23 edition is also accepted until it expires on 05/31/2027. Keep each I-9 for three years after the hire date or one year after employment ends, whichever is later.
Electronic I-9 systems had to be updated to the version expiring 05/31/2027 by July 31, 2026.
Only if you are enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing, and only at your E-Verify hiring sites. Otherwise the documents must be examined in person.
The remote option requires reviewing copies of the documents front and back, a live video call where the employee shows the same documents, keeping clear copies, and ticking the alternative-procedure box in Section 2. If you offer it at a site, you must offer it to every new hire at that site.
Federally, E-Verify is voluntary except for employers with federal contracts that include the E-Verify clause, employers in states whose laws require it, or employers under a court order. We found no Massachusetts rule requiring private employers to use it.
Within 14 days of the start date, to the Department of Revenue, for every employer regardless of size. Rehires who were off payroll for 30 days or more, including returning seasonal staff, are reported again.
The report needs your FEIN, legal name and payroll address, and the employee's name as it appears on their Social Security card, address, Social Security number and first day of work. Employers with 25 or more employees must file online through MassTaxConnect. Independent contractors paid $600 or more in a year are also reported. The penalty is up to $25 per person not reported or reported inaccurately.
Yes. The federal W-4 sets federal withholding and the Massachusetts Form M-4 sets state withholding. Without an M-4, state tax is withheld with no exemptions.
Keep the M-4 on file. If an employee appears to have claimed too many exemptions, the form tells the employer to advise the Department of Revenue.
No. Massachusetts "ban the box" law bars criminal-history questions on the initial written application, except for jobs that a law disqualifies people with certain convictions from, which ordinary restaurant jobs are not.
At no stage may an employer ask about arrests or charges that did not end in a conviction, certain first-offense misdemeanors, misdemeanor convictions three or more years old (unless there was another conviction in those three years), or sealed or expunged records. Before turning someone down because of a criminal record, the employer must tell them and give them a copy of the record.
Yes. Every job application in Massachusetts must print the statutory notice: "It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability."
Employers also may not require or give lie detector tests, including written honesty tests designed to detect deception.
No. Massachusetts employers may not ask applicants, or their current or former employers, about pay history. You may confirm pay an applicant volunteered, and you may ask after you have made an offer that includes pay.
Yes, if you employ 25 or more people in Massachusetts. Since October 29, 2025, every posting must show the hourly or annual range you reasonably and in good faith expect to pay, and you must give the range to an employee offered a promotion or transfer and to anyone who asks.
The 25 count includes part-time, seasonal and temporary staff. The Attorney General enforces the law: a warning first, then fines of up to $500 and then $1,000. Until October 29, 2027 employers get two business days to fix a problem after a notice from the Attorney General. The guidance does not say how to show tips in a posting, so ask counsel how to present a tipped role.
Only if you had 100 or more Massachusetts employees in the prior year and already file an EEO-1 with the federal EEOC. Those employers also submit it to the Secretary of the Commonwealth by February 1 each year.
Not one that can be enforced. Massachusetts law makes noncompetes unenforceable against employees who are non-exempt under federal overtime law, which covers most hourly restaurant staff, against workers 18 or younger, and against anyone laid off or fired without cause.
Non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements are not treated as noncompetes.
At minimum: the Paid Family and Medical Leave notice within 30 days of hire, written notice that you carry workers' compensation, a copy of the earned sick time notice, and, if you have six or more employees, a written copy of your sexual harassment policy.
The PFML notice must give the employee a chance to acknowledge or decline receipt, and the fine for skipping it is $50 per employee for a first violation and $300 after that. Posters are a separate requirement, covered on the records and posters page.
Almost never. Massachusetts uses a strict three-part test, and the restaurant must prove all three parts, including that the work is outside the usual course of its business. Cooking, serving and cleaning are the restaurant's business.
Misclassification carries the Wage Act's penalties: civil citations of up to $25,000 per violation and, for a willful first offense, fines of up to $25,000 or up to a year in jail. Company officers can be held personally liable.
If the person is actually working, cooking, prepping or serving, treat it as paid time. Massachusetts counts as working time all time someone is required to be on the premises or on duty, and no official guidance carves out unpaid tryouts.
That also means the trial shift needs the usual hiring paperwork and payroll record.
Your restaurant remains the employer of record and approves payroll and employment decisions. BOHO is not a PEO, a staffing agency, or legal counsel. These answers describe the rules; they don’t decide how they apply to your restaurant. Headcount, entity structure and the exact facts of a shift can change the answer, so confirm anything that affects pay with the agency, an employment attorney or your tax adviser.
