Updated September 30, 2026.
If you bid on or perform work for the City of Everett, Massachusetts, Ordinance C0056-26 requires wage-law certifications, ongoing payroll and insurance records on city projects, and a city complaint channel that forwards reports to state enforcement. The council adopted the wage theft prevention ordinance on April 27, 2026. It applies to contractors, subcontractors, tax-relief project teams, and certain license applicants—not to every private employer in town. This article is a practical compliance checklist; it is not legal advice.
Current status (September 2026)
The measure on the April 27, 2026 council agenda is titled “An ordinance promoting fair labor standards and preventing wage theft in the City of Everett” (C0056-26). Councilors Stephanie Martins, Vivian Nguyen, Wayne Matewsky, Katy Rogers, Anthony DiPierro, and Holly Garcia sponsored it. The ordinance text states it takes effect upon council passage and mayoral approval, so contractors pursuing new city work in 2026 should treat it as active law.
Read the full ordinance in the official April 27, 2026 council packet: City of Everett April 27, 2026 City Council meeting agenda (PDF). Cost modeling and bidding strategy for this ordinance are covered in the Cost and bidding impact section below.
Who must comply
The ordinance reaches farther than traditional public-works bids alone. Per the adopted text, key groups include:
- Bidders, contractors, and subcontractors on city contracts (RFPs and invitations for bid).
- Entities performing construction on properties with city tax increment financing or similar tax-relief agreements.
- Applicants and holders of certain licenses under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 138 or Chapter 140.
- Applicants for city tax incentives who must certify wage-law compliance and disclose prior violations.
It does not replace Massachusetts wage and hour law enforced by the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division. The city adds procurement gates, record requirements, and referral tools on top of state law.
Before you bid or sign
Treat each Everett solicitation as a compliance package, not a last-minute affidavit. The ordinance requires the following before the city awards work:
Certify and disclose under oath
All bidders, contractors, and subcontractors must verify under oath that they comply with the ordinance before entering a city contract and must stay compliant for the full term. Bid documents must disclose any wage-theft judgments, administrative citations, final determinations, or debarments within the prior five years. Entities debarred for wage theft by a federal, state, or municipal government cannot contract with Everett during the debarment period.
Screen subs and successors
Flow requirements down to every tier. The ordinance applies to successor employers that share principals or officers with a prior employer and perform the same or similar work. Collect the same five-year disclosures from subcontractors before they mobilize.
Plan for wage bonds if you have history
Contractors with wage-law violations in the prior five years may be required to post a wage bond or comparable insurance equal to one year of gross wages (minimum $5,000). Build that into bid pricing if your disclosure packet is not clean.
A separate repeat-violator provision (Section 8) applies to employers with two or more final wage-law violations in five years: the city may require a wage bond of not less than $25,000 and not more than $150,000, set by the City Solicitor in consultation with the CFO, running for at least two years.
Records to keep during the contract
Once work starts, the ordinance lists concrete operational duties for contractors on city projects:
- Maintain workers’ compensation (industrial accident) coverage under M.G.L. Chapter 152.
- Classify workers under M.G.L. Chapter 149, Section 148B—not as independent contractors when they are employees.
- Keep daily sign-in and sign-out logs for construction workers on city projects.
- Comply with Massachusetts health care reform (Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006).
- Submit monthly certified payroll records on construction projects.
- Report any wage-theft-related judgment, citation, or debarment within five business days if it occurs during the contract term.
Store payroll, classification analyses, insurance certificates, and certified payroll submissions in one audit-ready folder per project. Massachusetts prevailing-wage and overtime rules still apply; this ordinance is about proving compliance to the city when asked.
Complaints, referrals, and city contacts
Enforcement is referral-heavy by design. The Chief Procurement Officer’s office must provide an online complaint form and accept reports at the Procurement Office. Unless a complainant opts out in writing, the city forwards complaints under M.G.L. Chapters 149 and 151 to the Massachusetts Attorney General within 30 days. Anonymous complaints are allowed but may limit follow-up.
Contractors should direct compliance questions to city purchasing staff before bids are due:
- Chief Procurement Officer: Kiara Freeman — (617) 394-2288 — Kiara.Freeman@ci.everett.ma.us
- Purchasing office: City Hall, 484 Broadway, Room 14, Everett, MA 02149
- Department page: City of Everett Purchasing
Workers with unpaid wages or misclassification concerns can also contact the Massachusetts Attorney General Fair Labor Division directly. The city ordinance adds a local intake path; it does not create a separate wage court.
If the city finds a violation
When a contractor breaks applicable wage laws or the ordinance, the city may—after ten days’ notice—revoke the contract, suspend it, or attach conditions such as wage bonds on future awards. Verified complaints can be shared with the Planning Board, Inspectional Services, Licensing Commission, and city council. Tax-relief projects face additional disclosure and can trigger council review if violations are not cured within 14 business days.
Document every cure effort in writing. If you inherit a troubled project, notify purchasing immediately with your remediation plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Everett’s wage theft ordinance in effect as of September 2026?
Yes. The City Council gave final approval to Ordinance C0056-26 on April 27, 2026. The ordinance takes effect on council passage and mayoral approval, so it was in force well before September 2026.
Who has to follow the Everett contractor wage rules?
Bidders, contractors, and subcontractors on city contracts; construction teams on properties with city tax-relief agreements; and certain license applicants and holders under state liquor and licensing chapters, plus entities seeking city tax incentives. Private businesses with no city contract, permit, or incentive link are outside this ordinance’s procurement-focused scope.
What payroll records does the city require on construction contracts?
Contractors must maintain daily sign-in and sign-out logs for construction workers on city projects, submit monthly certified payroll records, keep workers’ compensation coverage, classify employees correctly under state law, and report new wage-theft judgments or citations within five business days if they occur during the contract.
Where do workers file wage theft complaints in Everett?
The Chief Procurement Officer’s office must provide an online complaint form and accept reports at the Procurement Office at City Hall. The city generally forwards Chapter 149 and Chapter 151 complaints to the Massachusetts Attorney General within 30 days unless the complainant opts out in writing.
Who should contractors call about bid compliance?
Contact the Chief Procurement Officer’s purchasing team before bids are due: Kiara Freeman at (617) 394-2288 or Kiara.Freeman@ci.everett.ma.us, Purchasing Division, 484 Broadway, Room 14, Everett, MA 02149.
Does this ordinance replace Massachusetts wage law?
No. Massachusetts wage, overtime, prevailing-wage, and classification rules still apply and are enforced by the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division. Everett’s ordinance adds contract certifications, record requirements, complaint intake, and city remedies such as suspension or revocation of city contracts.
Cost and bidding impactCost impact: what to model (no invented price tags)
I will not quote dollar impacts I cannot tie to your payroll. Instead, stack these line items in your estimator and compare to margin on the next Everett bid:
- Staff time to produce monthly certified payroll and daily logs on city construction.
- Broker and legal review of workers’ comp and classification practices—especially if you use subs.
- Delay risk if a complaint triggers a ten-day notice window before the city revokes or suspends a contract.
- Possible wage bond or insurance if you have prior wage-law findings within five years—the ordinance authorizes bonds tied to gross wages, with floors set in the text.
Operators who already chase prevailing-wage jobs will recognize the pattern. Operators who competed on city work with thin documentation will feel this as a step-change in overhead, not a single fine line item.
Bidding and contracting strategy
The low bid that depends on wage theft gets fragile
Council debate framed the ordinance as choosing not to do business with employers who already have judgments or debarments—not as citywide random audits. That still reshapes bidding: a competitor who wins by misclassifying subs or slow-paying crews now risks disqualification, bond demands, or contract loss after an employee complaint.
Ward 2 Councilor Stephanie Martins told colleagues in April 2026 that the measure targets businesses committing wage theft, not routine family payroll arrangements—a narrow enforcement posture on paper, but enough to kill a contract if a complaint verifies.
Successor employers and subs
The contractor section follows successor employers with shared principals. Prime bidders should vet sub payroll history for the same five-year disclosure window you certify. A sub’s old citation can become your procurement problem on an Everett job.
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