Maine minimum wage hike, new overtime pay rules to take effect Jan. 1
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Maine employers will be required to pay a higher minimum wage, as well as overtime for higher-paid employees.
Maine employers will be required to pay a higher minimum wage and higher overtime salaries staring Jan. 1.
On that date, the minimum wage rises from $11 to $12 an hour for most workers.
U.S. Department of Labor rules on overtime eligibility are also due to take effect in the new year.
The state’s minimum salary for exemption from overtime eligibility — tied by statute to Maine’s minimum wage — will go up from $33,000 to $36,000 a year, or a minimum salary of $692.31 per week.
Although that will be higher than the federal minimum exemption level of $684 a week (also as of Jan. 1), employers in Maine will be required to pay the higher state rate, as well as meet the so-called “duties test” as defined in federal statute, to meet the overtime exemption threshold.
In a statement, Maine Department of Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman said an estimated 1,600 Maine workers will be newly eligible for overtime pay protection due to the coming changes.
“The Department’s responsibility is to enforce these laws and ensure that employers and workers are aware of coming changes so that they can be ready to meet the laws’ requirements," she added.
Besides salary, there are several other requirements for exemption from overtime eligibility, including that the employee must be compensated on a salary basis, as noted in an online fact sheet.
The minimum wage increase comes amid a protest by Maine Attorney General Aaron M. Frey and his counterparts in 19 states urging the U.S. Department of Labor not to eliminate a regulation that prevents workers who get tips from receiving a lower wage.
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