2023 Labor Law Updates

These are unofficial documents that may contain errors. See the Session Laws Of Maine (when available) for a final version.

  • LD 14 Safety Education and Training Fund Notification - June 29,2023: Allows electronic notification to the insurers for the Safety Education and Training Fund (SETF) annual assessment.
  • LD 12 Severance Pay - October 25, 2023: Originally adopted in 1979, Maine's statute regarding severance pay and notification only covered industrial or commercial facilities, which were prevalent at the time but no longer employ as large a proportion of Maine's workforce. The new amendment increases access to severance pay for Maine workers by expanding this provision to workplaces outside of the industrial and commercial sectors.
  • LD 316 Minors Hazardous Occupations - October 25, 2023: Requires further information be provided and added to the web pages for employers and a report to the legislature of the minor work permits and injuries to minors.
  • LD 372 An Act to Increase Enforcement and Accountability for Wage Violations - August 9, 2024: This law allows the Maine Department of Labor the ability for the first time to order employers to pay back wages, liquidated damages, and interest to workers affected by labor law violations. This means that, under the new power, the MDOL may require an employer to pay the worker three times the amount the worker was underpaid, plus interest
  • LD 688 Veterinary Non-Compete: The law prohibits an employer from requiring or permitting an employee who is a licensed veterinarian to enter into a noncompete agreement unless the employee has an ownership interest in the business and provides that a court may not enforce such a noncompete agreement entered into prior to the effective date of this legislation.
  • LD 767 Anti-Retaliation - October 25, 2023: There is now a uniform anti-retaliation statute for all of Chapter 7, which regulates employment practices such as wage and hour laws. The new statute makes it a civil violation for an employer to take action intended to prevent or penalize a person from exercising their employment rights. This enables the Maine Department of Labor to assure workers that they can report potential labor law violations without fear of employer retaliation, which is often a deterrent that keeps people from advocating for their workplace rights.
  • LD 903 Restaurant Tipping - October 25, 2023: If an employer pays its employees the minimum hourly wage and does not take a tip credit, the employer may impose a tip pooling arrangement to include employees, such as dishwashers and cooks, who are not classified as service employees.
  • LD 1278 Salaried Employees - October 25, 2023: This amendment extends the provision of full and timely payment of wages to salaried employees.  They must now be paid at regularly established intervals.  Additionally,  the timely payment of wages and record keeping requirements no longer apply to an employee of a limited liability partnership or an employee of an S corporation.
  • LD 1419 Third Construction Wage Survey - October 25, 2023: Adds the highest of the current and Davis-Bacon rates for determining the minimum wage rate on state-funded construction projects.
  • LD 1703 Prohibit Equal Pay Discrimination Based on Race - October 25, 2023: An employer may not discriminate between employees in the same establishment on the basis of race by paying wages to any employee in any occupation in this State at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays any employee of another race for comparable work on jobs that have comparable requirements relating to skill, effort and responsibility.  An employer may not prohibit an employee from disclosing the employee's own wages or from inquiring about or disclosing another employee's wages if the purpose of the disclosure or inquiry is to enforce the rights granted by this section.
  • LD 1756 Employee Freedom of Speech - October 25, 2023
  • LD 1762 Workplace Veterans Poster - October 25, 2023: Requires the creation and optional posting of a Veterans poster detailing services available.
  • LD 1895 Offshore Wind - October 25, 2023
  • LD 1964 Paid Family and Medical Leave - October 25, 2023: Paid Family and Medical Leave was ultimately enacted through LD 258, and was amended from the original LD 1964. The link goes to the PFML website, which contains the enacted language.
  • LD 2010 Correction of Inconsistencies October 25, 2023