Senate Bill — S.2723 — The Healthy Workplace Act
We thank the bill sponsors: Sen. Paul R. Feeney, prime sponsor, Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, Rep. Elizabeth A. Malia, and Rep. James J. O’Day
The bill (then S.1200) was heard by the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development in June 2021. The bill reported favorably (was passed) by the committee and was referred on March 3, 2022 to Senate Ways and Means Committee.
You can help move the bill to a floor vote by contacting the members of the Ways and Means Committee telling them you want S.2723 to pass. And be sure to write or call your thanks to each of the sponsors listed above. All contact information is provided on linked pages.
The Massachusetts Advocacy Team
Suffolk University Law Professor David C. Yamada, an expert in employment law, wrote the HWB.
The Massachusetts Healthy Workplace Campaign is led by Greg Sorozan, Susan Rohrbach, and Yamada.
Major support comes from NAGE, the union of Massachusetts state workers, an affiliate of SEIU.
You can see the history of the HWB in Massachusetts here.
An Uphill Road to Passage
It’s a long way from having a bill introduced to passage as a law in normal times.
The Healthy Workplace Bill (HWB) has been introduced in 31 states and two U.S. territories. It has only passed with language and anti-bullying spirit of the bill (to encourage employers to take preventive steps to address abusive conduct (workplace bullying) or risk facing consequences of a lawsuit) in Puerto Rico in 2019.
Opposition reliably comes from the business lobby and SHRM, the HR trade association – yes Virginia HR is NOT your friend or advocate). That well-funded opposition is expected in normal times. But times in state legislatures are not normal in 2022.
One political party is able to legislate quickly (sometimes moving from bill introduction to passage in one day) against people they are supposed to represent. The flood of laws (not simply bills proposed, but actually enacted laws) include those that deprive women of control over their own biological decisions and the right to seek medical help in other states and terrorize anyone offering to assist; the vicious anti-queer laws that pit parents against their LGBQT children and bans against trans-women athletes certain to lead to countless suicides and ruined families; book banning centered around the fear of addressing the darker side of American history; and, of course, the original sin, the return of voting restrictions that impair black and brown people’s ability to participate in choosing elected officials.
Into this toxic stew of crazy authoritarianism and hatred, comes our modest legislation aimed to incentivize employers to deliver a new kind of safety to employees, to minimize risks from emotional and stress-related physical health injuries. Success is unlikely where lawmakers jump at the chance to suppress human dignity. It should not be a red/blue distinction, but nationwide the Republican state lawmakers are there to inflict as much harm as they can while in office. I speak not about attitudes. Look at their behaviors, their choices, the bills they propose and rush into laws where Republicans control both state houses and the governor’s seat.
Despite the zeitgeist, hope springs eternal in the blue state of Mass. It need not be partisan. Certainly there are many lawmakers of all political tribes that have been bullied on the job. Bullying cuts across the political divide. It attacks the best and brightest, regardless of party affiliation. Let’s hope personal or indirect experience with bullying informs the vote of Mass. legislators. Experience trumps (hard to use that verb without wincing) partisanship.
The HWB website — healthyworkplacebill.org
