MassLive.com reports that the nearly 50 former Massachusetts state workers who lost their jobs last year to Gov. Charlie Baker’s COVID-19 mandate should not expect guaranteed back pay if they accept the Commonwealth’s recent offers of reinstated employment.
The limited of former Executive Department employees — out of about 1,000 individuals who were fired or voluntarily resigned over Baker’s requirement — face an Oct. 31 deadline to decide whether they want to reclaim their old positions, according to letters obtained by MassLive this week. That includes a janitor and driver’s license examiner previously employed by MassDOT, but the Baker administration confirmed several other state agencies are seeking to recruit former workers, too.
Several MassDOT employees from different regional offices, who could not talk on the record due to the sensitivity of the information, indicated to MassLive they understood back pay or retroactive pay is not included in offers of reinstatement. Another employee who had no definitive knowledge on the matter was skeptical the Baker administration would provide back pay or other perks to entice former MassDOT workers.
