The evolution of Maine wage
payment laws continues apace, and a raft of legislative bills are currently
undergoing scrutiny in Augusta. Back in November, Maine voters increased the
state minimum wage to $9 per hour and approved phasing-out the “tip credit” by
increasing the minimum direct service wage for tipped employees to $5 per hour
in 2017 and increasing it by an additional $1 per hour each year until it
reaches the state minimum wage. On
Wednesday, April 5th, the Joint Standing Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research
and Economic Development held public hearings on a list of bills seeking to
modify -- or reverse recent changes to -- Maine’s minimum wage law.
Even though voters ultimately cast their ballots and
approved changes to the minimum wage by referendum, fierce debate continues in
Augusta as to how Maine businesses ought to be impacted and what modifications,
if any, should be made. High attendance
at the April 5 hearing served to demonstrate the contentiousness of the topic. Representatives
from Maine People’s Alliance and Maine Small Business Coalition
lined the halls in support of upholding the referendum, while the Maine
Restaurant Association, Maine Chamber of Commerce and others business groups rallied
members in opposition. State House
metal detectors got a workout – the Legislature saw its busiest public hearing
of the year, with testimony extending into the morning hours on Thursday.
During the hearing, the committee
heard testimony on the following bills:
- LD 774, "An Act To Create a Training Wage." This bill provides a minimum hourly training wage of $1 above the federal minimum wage for a person who is 20 years of age or under and is a student at a secondary or postsecondary school.
- LD 775, "An Act To Prohibit the Minimum Wage from Exceeding the New England Average." This bill provides that the minimum wage may not exceed the average minimum wage paid in the New England states, as determined by the Maine commissioner of labor.
- LD 778, "An Act To Eliminate the Indexing of the Minimum Wage to Inflation." This bill eliminates the indexing of the minimum wage to inflation, which under current law is scheduled to begin on January 1, 2021.
- LD 831, "An Act To Base the Minimum Wage on a New England State Average and To Restore the Tip Credit." This bill provides that starting Jan. 1, 2018, the minimum hourly wage is the average minimum hourly wage in the New England states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island on July 1 of the previous year, as determined annually by the Maine commissioner of labor. It also restores the tip credit.
- LD 971, "An Act To Exempt Certain Employees from the Minimum Wage Laws." This bill exempts from the minimum wage laws an employee who has not attained 18 years of age, is claimed as a dependent on the income tax return of another person or is employed by a seasonal employer.
- LD 991, "An Act To Establish a Minimum Wage for Minors." This bill establishes a minimum hourly wage for minors that is 75% of the minimum hourly wage established for persons who are 18 years of age and older.
- LD 1005, "An Act Regarding Minimum Wage Increases." This bill eliminates the $1 per hour increases in the minimum wage scheduled for each of the next three years and eliminates increases in the minimum wage based on the increase in the cost of living starting in 2021. It also restores the tip credit to the minimum wage laws.
- LD 673, "An Act To Restore the Tip Credit to Maine's Minimum Wage Law." This bill restores the tip credit to the minimum wage laws
- LD 702, "An Act To Restore the Tip Credit to Maine Employees." This bill also restores the tip credit in the minimum wage laws.
- A third bill, LD 1117, "Resolve, To establish the commission to study the phase-out of sub-minimum wage," seeks to study the phase-out of the tip credit and have the commission report back to the full Legislature with recommendations in 2019.
Any business operating in the state with at least one employee, including all public and private employers, is automatically covered by Maine labor laws and needs to comply with the updates. The new minimum wage laws went into effect on January 1, 2017, although employers were given a one month grace period to comply with changes in the tip credit or the minimum salary requirement for overtime-exempt workers.
Ultimately, the committee did not vote on the issue on Wednesday, April 5. Still, with further changes inevitably on the horizon, employers should remain attentive to the fate of all bills pending in Augusta. We will offer updates as things progress between now and the end of the legislative session.
