Earlier this month, we reported on Governor Paul LePage’s request for the Maine legislature to amend Question 4, the citizen-initiated referendum that scheduled a gradual increase of the state minimum wage with an eventual endpoint of $12.00 per hour, as well as a gradual elimination of the lower minimum wage for tipped workers. Maine’s minimum wage increase will almost certainly undergo scrutiny during the current legislative session, but it is still scheduled to go into effect on January 7, 2017 (30 days after Governor LePage’s certification of election results).
In accordance, the Maine Department of Labor has recently released its mandatory posting, updated for the 2017 minimum wage increase of $9.00 per hour as well as other provisions of the new law. The notice has undergone significant revision:
- The Service Employees section has been edited to reflect the requirement that all tipped workers be paid a direct wage of $5.00 per hour, as well as the employer’s obligation to pay the difference if the employee’s direct wage, combined with tips, does not equal the state minimum wage.
- The new Minimum Wage section explains that the minimum wage pertains to all public and private employers, regardless of profit or size of business, employing one or more employees.
- The new Municipal Minimum Wage Ordinances section notes that employers in Bangor, Portland, and other municipalities that pass a minimum wage ordinance may be subject to additional regulations.
- The new Overtime section notes that unless specifically exempted, employees must receive time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek. This section also explains how “comp” time and “flex” time may or may not be used by private-sector employers.
- The Exempt from Minimum Wage and Overtime and Exempt from Overtime Only lists have been replaced with a section titled Exemptions from Overtime which lists the new overtime exemption threshold of $519.24 per week. (As previously reported, a preexisting Maine statute requires the overtime-exempt threshold to equal 3000 times the state minimum wage.)
However, the state’s DOL also recently announced that it will take a temporary non-enforcement position on some statutes of the new law, citing the confusion caused by the last-minute injunction on the federal salary threshold increase as precedent. As Commissioner of Labor Jeanne Paquette explained, “Employers did a lot of work to comply, and then the injunction put everything on hold, creating confusion for both workers and employers. We want to avoid a similar situation under state law.”
Until January 31, 2017, the department will not bring enforcement charges against any employer “who fails to comply with the change in the tip credit or minimum salary requirement for overtime-exempt workers.” The minimum wage of $9.00 per hour for non-tipped employees, however, will be enforced as of its effective date. Employers should note that the department’s decision to delay enforcement does not absolve employers of their responsibilities under the law. Employers who do not comply with the provisions may still be subject to private right of action by employees, which the department warns may result in “the award of back wages, treble damages, attorney’s fees and court costs to an affected worker.”
The Department of Labor’s enforcement priorities, approved by Governor LePage, should give us a good idea of which aspects of the referendum we can expect to see challenged over the coming legislative session. In the meantime, Maine employers must display the revised posting as of the effective date of January 7, 2017 so that their employees remain informed of their rights under the law. To update your All-On-One Poster or Mobile Poster Pak with a Peel’ N Post sticker, click here to order online or call 800-817-7678 to consult with your Compliance Advisor.