Proposals to beef up Maine’s wage and overtime laws head to floor

A committee on Thursday advanced legislation to expand the number of workers in Maine who receive overtime pay and strengthen the penalties for labor violations. 

Currently, an employee can be exempt from overtime pay if they are paid on a salary basis; perform primarily executive, administrative or professional duties; and make more than $42,450.20 a year. 

LD 513, sponsored by Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot), would adjust the amount an employee has to make to be exempt from overtime to match a rule proposed last year by the U.S. Department of Labor. Under that federal proposal, most workers earning less than $55,068 would receive overtime — extending that labor standard to 3.6 million additional employees around the country. 

The new overtime threshold in Maine would begin Jan. 1, 2025, under the stipulations of LD 513.  

As currently written, Tipping’s bill would also index the salary threshold for when workers get overtime to the cost of living, similar to how the minimum wage in Maine changes based on the cost of living each year.

The Labor and Housing Committee voted 6-4 in favor of the bill on a party-line vote, with Democrats supporting the proposal and Republicans opposing it. The measure will next advance to consideration before the full Legislature. 

The committee also advanced on a party-line vote a rule proposed by Maine Department of Labor (DOL) designed to strengthen its ability to enforce labor laws. 

That legislation would simplify the process for imposing penalties against labor violations, modify the appeals process and allocate resources more efficiently. 

“The proposed rules make the civil money penalties more effective by increasing the deterrent effect associated with violations,” the department wrote of its proposed rule. “This is done by making initial penalties higher and making the criteria for penalty reductions more stringent.” 

During a public hearing last week, supporters said the rules are needed to deter employees from breaking labor laws. Advocates cited a study by the Maine Center for Economic Policy that found employers that broke wage and hour laws in the state paid an average penalty of just $9.61 per violation from 2021 to 2023, which they said is not enough to deter bad behavior.  

Corporate groups opposed the rules, saying they are too heavy-handed and would alienate businesses that operate in good faith.  

Republicans on the committee requested that the DOL’s bill be tabled and taken up at a later date. They said they had questions about the rules that they wanted to pose to Jason Moyer-Lee, director of labor standards at the DOL, who wasn’t able to attend Thursday’s meeting. 

Sen. Matt Pouliot (R-Kennebec) expressed frustration that the vote took place anyway. 

“We’re simply asking to table this bill so we have an opportunity to ask some questions so we can then be in a position to support this,” he said. “I don’t understand why that’s not possible.”

Tipping responded that their questions had been answered during a previous public hearing. He also argued that the proposed rules are critically important to protect workers and that employees in Maine need to know their rights will be safeguarded. 

“Every worker deserves the right to minimum wage, to not be discriminated against on the job, and the other economic protections that we talk about so much on this committee,” he said. 

The committee on Thursday tabled another bill, LD 373, that would require a bidder to agree to a labor harmony agreement if a clean energy, broadband or transportation project involves public funds or lands. 

Tipping, the bill sponsor, explained at a hearing last week that labor harmony agreements would require companies awarded bids for clean energy projects to agree not to bust a union or lock out workers. In exchange, workers would give up their right to strike. 

The goal of the bill is to ensure that public money isn’t used to fight unionization while also making sure that essential climate projects are completed without labor fights slowing things down, advocates said.