* MASSACHUSETTS LEGAL HOLIDAYS 2008 *    The following is a list of all legal holidays observed in Massachusetts. State, county, and municipal offices are closed on all of these days. Federal offices are only closed on holidays which the federal government recognizes (i.e. New Year's Day, Martin Luther King's Birthday, George Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas). New Year's Day                              Jan. 1, Tues. Martin Luther King Day             Jan. 21, Mon. President's Day                              Feb. 18, Mon.          Evacuation Day (Suffolk County only)                             Mar. 17, Mon.         Patriots' Day                                   Apr.  21, Mon. Memorial Day** (1)                       May 26, Mon. Bunker Hill Day (Suffolk County only)                             June 17, Tue.  Independence Day**                    July 4, Fri. Labor Day**                                     Sept. 1, Mon.           Columbus Day* (2) (Restrictions until 12 noon)                     Oct. 13, Mon. Veterans Day* (2) (Restrictions until 1 pm)                          Nov. 11, Tue.           Thanksgiving Day* (1)                  Nov. 27, Thurs. Christmas Day* (1)                        Dec. 25, Thurs.  * - Full restrictions apply for ALL commerce ** - Restrictions apply except to retail (1) Liquor Stores must be closed for Memorial, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Days. (2) Many companies operate all day on these holidays, pending obtaining a local permit. (3) All holidays falling on Sunday must be observed on Monday, under state law. Saturday holidays are observed on Saturday. * * * * * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In October, 2007, Nina Kimball authored and filed an Amicus Brief in a case challenging the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Guidelines.  Nina had co-chaired the committee that drafted the Maternity Leave Guidelines in 2000.  Due to her expertise and knowledge of the Guidelines, the Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association (MELA) asked Nina to write the brief for the Court of Appeals, asking the Court of Appeals to uphold and enforce the Guidelines.  The issue on appeal is whether the Court should enforce a provision of the Guidelines that says if an employer offers an employee more than the eight weeks of maternity leave required by the statute, the employer must inform the employee ahead of time if the employer will refuse to allow the employee to return to her job simply because she took more than the statutory eight weeks of maternity leave.  We argue in our brief that this is a notice provision that is reasonable to allow employees to exercise protected rights.  We argue that without this notice provision, employees would not know that their jobs may be at risk if they are not told that their job will not be held open longer than eight weeks.  The case is Sandy Stephens v. Global Naps.  The Amicus Brief was filed on behalf of MELA.