As advised by the Attorney General's Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 (lines open from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.), what an employee must be paid for work if they left early because of the State of Emergency depends upon whether the person is union, salaried, or hourly.
For union, the employee should refer to the union contract for the answer.
For salaried, the answer depends on a variety of factors. They may be owed only for the hours they worked, or for the whole day. A salaried employee should check with the U.S. Department of Labor for further guidance. The U.S. Dept of Labor Hotline is (617) 624-6700.
For hourly employees, 455 CMR 2.03 dictates the minimum pay, and if an employee worked for more than three hours, they must be paid for the time they actually worked. The employer can force the employee to take sick, vacation, or personal time to make up the remainder of the day that they did not work so that they would be paid for the full day that day. If the employee doesn't report at all, the employee is owed no pay.
