MDOL Commissioner to Lead New National Wage & Hour Policy Committee

February 15, 2022

For Immediate Release: February 15, 2022

MDOL Commissioner to Lead New National Wage & Hour Policy Committee

MAINE - Maine Department of Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman will serve as the inaugural chair of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies' (NASWA) - https://www.naswa.org/ newest national policy committee, Wage & Hour. NASWA announced the new committee on February 15, which will serve as a forum for state workforce and labor agency employees charged with enforcing wage and hour laws.

"I am honored to lead this new committee and collaborate with peers from across the country," Commissioner Laura Fortman said. "This committee will allow us to share best practices, and explore innovative policies and strategies to ensure that workers rights are protected and that law-abiding employers are not placed at an economic disadvantage by those who fail to comply with the law."

Commissioner Fortman has served as a senior executive at both the federal and state levels, working to protect the rights of workers and ensure they have access to jobs allowing them to support themselves and their families. She has long worked in the realm of labor law, having served as the Deputy Administrator of the U. S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division from 2013 2017, and as MDOL Commissioner from 2003-2011 and 2019-present.

Most recently, the Maine Department of Labor announced - https://www.maine.gov/labor/news_events/article.shtml?id=6595476 that the Department had recovered nearly half a million dollars in owed back wages for Maine workers in 2021. The Department published the information publicly for the first-time on a new website outlining final actions taken against employers who were assessed penalties by the Department's Wage and Hour Division in 2021, which will be updated quarterly going forward: https://www.maine.gov/labor/bls/whv2021/index.shtml

NASWAs press release can be found here: https://www.naswa.org/news/new-policy-committee-on-wage-and-hour-announced