Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XXI Chapter 149
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, § 27F (2026)

Wages of operators of rented equipment; agreements; penalty; civil action

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 27F. No agreement of lease, rental or other arrangement, and no order or requisition under which a truck or any automotive or other vehicle or equipment is to be engaged in public works by the commonwealth or by a county, city, town or district, shall be entered into or given by any public official or public body unless said agreement, order or requisition contains a stipulation requiring prescribed rates of wages, as determined by the commissioner, to be paid to the operators of said trucks, vehicles or equipment. Any such agreement, order or requisition which does not contain said stipulation shall be invalid, and no payment shall be made thereunder. Said rates of wages shall be requested of said commissioner by said public official or public body, and shall be furnished by the commissioner in a schedule containing the classifications of jobs, and the rate of wages to be paid for each job. Said rates of wages shall include payments to health and welfare plans, or, if no such plan is in effect between employers and employees, the amount of such payments shall be paid directly to said operators.

Whoever pays less than said rates of wages, including payments to health and welfare funds, or the equivalent in wages, on said works, and whoever accepts for his own use, or for the use of any other person, as a rebate, gratuity or in any other guise, any part or portion of said wages or health and welfare funds, shall have violated this section and shall be punished or shall be subject to a civil citation or order as provided in section 27C.

An employee claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this section may, 90 days after the filing of a complaint with the attorney general, or sooner if the attorney general assents in writing, and within 3 years after the violation, institute and prosecute in his own name and on his own behalf, or for himself and for others similarly situated, a civil action for injunctive relief, for any damages incurred, and for any lost wages and other benefits. An employee so aggrieved who prevails in such an action shall be awarded treble damages, as liquidated damages, for any lost wages and other benefits and shall also be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys' fees.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1977–2023 · leading case: Mullally v. Waste Mgmt. of Massachusetts, Inc., 452 Mass. 526 (Mass. 2008).
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Mullally v. Waste Mgmt. of Massachusetts, Inc., 452 Mass. 526 (Mass. 2008). · cites it 15× “(Waste Management), commenced a suit against Waste Management alleging, inter alia, that its payroll formula violated G. L. c. 149, § 27F, which mandates a particular minimum wage for certain public works contracts, and G.”
Donis v. Am. Waste Servs., LLC, 125 N.E.3d 759 (Mass. App. Ct. 2019). · cites it 11× “*318 The plaintiffs brought this action to recover prevailing wages they say are owed to them under G. L. c. 149, § 27F, which mandates payment of a specific minimum wage for certain public works contracts.”
Frank Bros., Inc. v. Wisconsin Dep't of Transp., Frank Busalacchi, Sec'y, & Marilyn Kuick, Chief Eeo/labor Compliance, 409 F.3d 880 (7th Cir. 2005). · cites it 2× “More importantly, aside from Wisconsin, at least three other states specifically include truck drivers as one of the classes of contractor employees that must be paid the prevailing wage under state law. See, e.”
Perlera v. Vining Disposal Serv., Inc., 713 N.E.2d 1017 (Mass. App. Ct. 1999). · cites it 3× “The issue in these appeals is whether G. L. c. 149, § 27F, set out below at note 5, requires a private company, under contract with a municipality to provide refuse collection and disposal services, to pay wages at “prevailing rates” (as determined by the Commissioner of Labor…”
Gammella v. P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Inc., 120 N.E.3d 690 (Mass. 2019). “13, including trebling under the Wage Act. The plaintiff does not seem to dispute that the monetary amounts of the offers would be sufficient to satisfy his claimed individual damages.”
Sullivan v. Sleepy's LLC, 121 N.E.3d 1210 (Mass. 2019). “2d 1277 (2008) was required by G. L. c. 149, § 27F, to compensate its employees at the "prevailing wage rate.”
McGrath v. ACT, Inc., 2008 Mass. App. Div. 257 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 2008). · cites it 2× “But Perlera turned on G.L.c. 149, §27F, which is inapplicable here.”
Commonwealth v. W. Barrington Co., 363 N.E.2d 1120 (Mass. App. Ct. 1977). · cites it 2× “The complaint in this matter is framed under G. L. c. 149, § 27F, 1 and was submitted to the Superior Court on a statement of agreed facts, the essence of which may be summarized as follows.”
Joshua Rego & Others v. Allied Waste Servs. of Massachusetts, LLC., 184 N.E.3d 1284 (Mass. App. Ct. 2022). · cites it 9× “Judgment properly entered in favor of the plaintiff drivers and laborers employed by the defendant, which provided municipal waste and recycling services under a five-year contract with a town, on the plaintiffs' claim pursuant to the Prevailing Wage Act (act), G. L. c. 149, §…”
Cocchi v. Morais Concrete Serv., Inc., 2015 Mass. App. Div. 49 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 2015). · cites it 2× “Two Massachusetts statutes are particularly relevant to this issue: G.L.c. 149, §27F and G.Lc. 149, §26. Section 27F provides, in part: No agreement of lease, rental or other arrangement, and no order or requisition under which a truck or any automotive or other vehicle or…”
Donis v. Am. Waste Servs., LLC (Mass. 2020). · cites it 8× “The motion judge concluded that the defendants' "chronic underpayment of the [p]laintiffs constituted a plain violation of G. L. c. 149, § 27F, as a matter of law," and that the defendants' failure to pay the plaintiffs at the prescribed wage rates also constituted a violation…”
Marsh v. Massachusetts Coastal R.R. LLC (Mass. 2023). · cites it 3× “In particular, he alleges that he was entitled to a prevailing wage as an operator of vehicles and equipment engaged in public works projects, under G. L. c. 149, § 27F,4 and as a laborer performing a construction job on public works projects, under G.”
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