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Editorial | BLACK FRIDAY

Massachusetts blue laws 2.0

  November 21, 2011

State officials, citing the goal of protecting workers, are enforcing the portion of the blue laws that bans stores from staying open on certain holidays - including Thanksgiving. Protecting retail workers is a noble impulse. But in reality, the blue laws are creating nothing but a minor inconvenience; stores are planning to adjust by simply opening at 12:30 a.m. instead of 12. If state officials really want to help employees whose holidays are encroached upon, they could take steps to guarantee them overtime pay for what still amounts to a holiday shift.

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