AUGUSTA – Three key pieces of labor legislation, sponsored by Rep. Amy Roeder, D-Bangor, will go into effect today. Roeder, who is the House chair of the Legislature’s Labor Committee, successfully sponsored eight bills, now law, over the last two years.
LD 54 requires that employers with more than 10 employees must include a pay range on their job postings. For employers with fewer than 10 employees, salary ranges must be disclosed if requested by a successful applicant. Additionally, employers will be required to maintain a record of the position titles and payment history of their employees for three years following the end of their employment.
“Maine workers who are applying for jobs deserve to know what it pays from the outset,” said Roeder. “This bill will give job applicants the information they need up front before going through a lengthy hiring process. It will also increase pay transparency and improve parity throughout Maine's workforce.”
LD 61 prohibits employers from using surveillance tools unless workers are notified prior to their use. Employers are prohibited from using video monitoring in an employee's residence, personal vehicle or on the employee's property. Employees also have the right to decline data collection on their personal electronic devices for the purposes of employer surveillance. Finally, LD 61 creates a private right of action for workers.
“Employers tracking their workers' every move through the use of phone recordings, mouse tracking, remote desktop control and internet activity monitoring is an extreme violation of privacy that can easily be abused,” said Roeder. “LD 61 provides common-sense safeguards to ensure that employers' use of surveillance technology is limited to circumstances where it is absolutely necessary.”
LD 669 provides Maine Department of Transportation highway maintenance personnel who have died on the job with the same death benefit received by other public servants, like law enforcement and firefighters. The state will pay a benefit of $100,000 to surviving children, parents or a spouse and allow for an interim payment of $3,000 to survivors under certain circumstances.
“The risks posed to highway maintenance workers are very real, as we saw with the passing of two public servants from MaineDOT, James Brown and Dwayne Campbell, who lost their lives while at work in January,” said Roeder. “LD 669 will help ensure that we have the backs of those who put their lives on the line daily to maintain our transportation infrastructure and keep us and our roads safe.”
Roeder is serving her third term in the Maine House of Representatives and is House chair of the Labor Committee. She represents House District 23, which includes a portion of Bangor.
Contact:
Brian Lee (Roeder) | 305-965-2744