I am a freelance theatre technician who sometimes works as an independant contractor and sometimes as an employee.

Generally in the theatrical field there is a 4 hour minimum for a call. This means that even if you work just 1 hour you will be paid for 4 just for showing up. This is a standard of the industry and not law (to my knowledge). I should also say that this is non-union.

One of the theaters I work for has just changed their labor policy to a 2 hour minimum. I was under the impression that MA law requires a minimum of 3 hours. This specific theatre has all freelance laborers on their payroll as employees. We fill out a w-4 form and taxes are taken out of the check.

My question is: Is it legal to pay someone for just 2 hours? I thought MA required at least 3. If this is illegal, could you please provide a link to the law so that I may present it to this employer?

Thank you very much in advance for anything you might be able to tell me.

3 is the minimum hours in MA, IF THE EMPLOYEE WAS SCHEDULED FOR MORE AND SENT HOME EARLY. It is perfectly legal to schedule someone for only two hours, and pay them for only two hours.

Is it possible to provide a link to where it says that 3 is the minimum in that specific case?

I don't know if this effects the situation but we are rarely called for a time frame. We are generally called in to complete a project. Sometimes the projects run 1 hour, other times they run a full day. If we are not told what time frame we will be employed for, what recourse do we have?

Thank you.

455 CMR 2.03 reads as follows :
When an employee who is scheduled to work three or more hours reports for duty at the time set by the employer, and that employee is not provided with the expected hours of work, the employee shall be paid for at least three hours on such day at no less than the basic minimum wage. This provision shall not apply to organizations granted status as charitable organizations under the Internal Revenue Code.

(emphasis mine)

Nothing in the above suggests that employees who are scheduled to work less than three hours have to be paid for time they did not work.