The Sunday premium wage: A ‘blue law’ not even the Puritans would like

If you go to Boston.com you can find examples of behavior prohibited by colonial-era blue laws that are still on the books in Massachusetts – among them, kissing in public, wearing gold buttons worth more than 200 British pounds, and being an idle "tobacco taker." One blue law of much more recent origin compels retail businesses utilizing at least seven workers to pay Sunday and holiday wages that are one-and-a-half what they pay on normal weekdays. No other state, except Rhode Island, mandates

If you go to Boston.com you can find examples of behavior prohibited by colonial-era blue laws that are still on the books in Massachusetts – among them, kissing in public, wearing gold buttons worth more than 200 British pounds, and being an idle "tobacco taker." One blue law of much more recent origin compels retail businesses utilizing at least seven workers to pay Sunday and holiday wages that are one-and-a-half what they pay on normal weekdays. No other state, except Rhode Island, mandates…