Maine Labor Laws

In the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets laws to manage the time spent by employees in the workplace, safeguarding their rights and guaranteeing fair pay for their efforts. These laws act as directives for employers, keeping them in check, and minimizing any forms of abuse or exploitation.

Maine labor laws provide stricter guidelines for time and employee management in the workplace. A brief overview of minimum wage, overtime and break laws in the state are as follows:

Employers who contravene time management laws face severe legal ramifications, including fines, back pay, and damages. If workers feel that their employer has violated federal time management laws, they can file complaints with the State of Maine Department of Labor for investigation and legal action.

The Maine Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from engaging in discriminatory practices during the hiring process. The following characteristics are protected under the Act:

Employers in Maine cannot pay their working employees different wages solely due to their gender. Furthermore, employers are not allowed to retaliate against employees for discussing their wages with peers. 

In Maine, employment contracts operate according to the “employment-at-will” policy, which means that both the employer and employee have the right to terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any reason excluding discriminatory or illegal reasons. This policy applies to most employees unless stated otherwise in their contractual agreement. 

After termination of employment, the employer must provide the employee’s final paycheck by the next scheduled payday. When a company with over 100 employees shuts down or moves, they may offer severance pay to their former workers.

This should be part of their last paycheck and calculated based on their length of employment, with one week’s pay for each year worked and partial pay for a partial year. Calculations start from the last complete month of employment.

The following are some important labor laws that govern employment relations in Maine:

• Ban-the-Box Laws: The Maine Fair Chance of Employment Act prohibits employers from asking job applicants about their criminal history during the early stages of the hiring process. Furthermore, employers cannot discourage or discriminate against job candidates with criminal records in job postings. Exceptions to the rule apply. Employers may request an applicant’s conviction history after a conditional job offer has been extended. Additionally, candidates with conviction histories may be ineligible for positions where such histories are prohibited by federal and state law due to the job’s sensitive nature.
• Health Insurance Continuation Laws: Employers who experience a major life event such as termination or reduction of work hours can qualify for continued health insurance under the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). This plan allows up to 36 months of health insurance coverage but at a price of 102% of the original plan. Workers can qualify for coverage if they undergo termination, reduction of hours, divorce, incapacity due to health reasons, or if they are caring for a family member with serious health issues. Employers with 20 or fewer employees may be required to extend continued health insurance under Maine’s Mini-COBRA.
• Social Media Usage Laws: According to Maine law, employers may not request an applicant or employee for their personal social media password, ask them to access their account in their presence, or force them to disclose social media information. Additionally, employers cannot mandate that an employee add anyone to their social media contact list, discipline or fire them for refusing access to their account, or reject an applicant for not providing access. However, if the employer requires access to devices or software that they provided to the employee, all necessary login information must be disclosed.
• Recordkeeping Laws: Maine’s laws regarding employment recordkeeping require employers to maintain records showing the exact amount of wages paid to each employee, including dates as well as records of hours worked by each employee on each business day for three years.
• Drug and Alcohol Testing Laws: To ensure their workplaces are drug-free, Maine employers can create drug testing policies that follow state guidelines and are approved by the Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards. If an employee tests positive for drug use, they can be refused employment, disciplined, relocated, demoted, or even fired. After a drug test, employees must be provided a copy of the test result if they need to contest it. 
• Smoking Laws: Employers in Maine are allowed to create policies that ban or discourage smoking in the workplace. Employees who wish to smoke may only be allowed to do so outside a workplace, 20 feet away from an entry point, ensuring that smoke does not travel back to the workplace.
• Workplace Safety Laws: Maine’s State Plan, approved by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA, helps regulate employee health and safety in the workplace. Though it mostly follows the federal OSHA standards, it also includes some extra rules for managing respiratory protection and video display terminals.
• Whistleblower Protection Laws: Maine has laws to protect employees who report inappropriate employer activities in good faith. These laws prohibit any retaliation against employees who report a violation of Maine laws or a safety and health risk at the workplace. Employees are also protected if they participate in any investigation or court hearing or if they take part in illegal activities on the instructions of their employer. Healthcare-related employees are also guarded if they report inadequate patient care in healthcare facilities. Employees are required to report any violations to their employer first, allowing sufficient time for corrective action. However, if the employee has a solid reason to believe that reporting to the employer will not result in immediate corrective action, this step is not mandatory.

A minimum wage is the lowest pay that an employer is mandated by law to pay an employee for work performed in a specific time. As of January 1, 2025, the State of Maine Department of Labor has increased the minimum wage of Maine to $14.65 per hour. 

Beginning January 1, 2025, employees who regularly earn over $185 in tips per month are classified as tipped employees in Maine. Such employees can be paid a reduced cash wage of $7.33 per hour, with a tip credit of $7.32 retained by the employer. 

Employers in Maine must ensure that a tipped employee’s earnings at the end of a workweek, including tips, average to equal minimum wage requirements set by state law. If not, the employer is required to make up the difference.

Certain jobs in Maine are exempted from the minimum wage law including:

• Agricultural workers on large farms
• Outside salespersons
• Taxicab drivers
• Camp counselors
• Salaried employees (administrative, professional, executive), who make at least $845.21 per week

In Maine, employees must be paid no later than every 16 days. The pay schedule should be consistent and cannot be changed without informing the employee one day beforehand.

According to Maine’s overtime laws, any work exceeding 40 hours in a week counts as overtime and should be compensated at 1.5 times the regular rate. It’s also not permitted for employers to require employees to work over 80 hours of overtime for two continuous weeks.

For minimum wage workers, overtime pay stands at $21.975 per hour as of January 1, 2025. For a deeper understanding of your overtime rights, read our detailed article on overtime rights in Maine.

Exceptions to overtime laws can be made in the following cases:

• When employees perform essential public duties during a public emergency declared by the Governor
• When salaried employees who fall under administrative, professional, or executive categories earn at least $845.21 weekly (or $43,951 annually)
• For essential workers including utility workers, snow plowers, road maintenance workers, and telecommunications workers
• For seasonal employees
• For medical interns or residents in certain conditions
• For employees or contractors involved in construction or maintenance companies which have operational shutdowns

Learn more in detail about Maine Salaried Employees Laws. 

Employers with three or more employees must provide their workers a 30-minute rest break for six consecutive hours of work. This break is compensated unless the employee decides to take an unpaid meal break, in which case they must completely be relieved of their duties.

Employers can require employees to stay on work premises for the duration of the break. 

Maine law ensures nursing employees are allowed to express breast milk in the workplace for up to 3 years after giving birth. Employers must provide an unpaid break or allow employees to use their paid break time for this purpose. 

Furthermore, the employer is responsible for providing a clean, private location, that is not a toilet stall and a reasonable amount of time to express milk. Nursing employees are protected from retaliation for expressing milk at the workplace.

The following are the required leave types that Maine employers must provide to their employees:

• Paid Leave: Starting from January 1st, 2021, workers are eligible for earned paid leave in Maine if they work in an establishment with 10 or more employees. Paid leave will be accrued at a rate of 1 hour per 40 hours worked, allowing for a maximum of 40 hours of leave to be earned annually. Moreover, up to 40 hours of unused time off can be rolled over to the next year. In non-emergency circumstances, an employer may need to give up to four weeks of notice before an employee applies for this leave.
• Family Medical Leave: In Maine, eligible employees can take up to 10 weeks of unpaid family medical leave for reasons such as caring for a newborn, a close family member with a serious health condition, or donating an organ. This applies to employees who have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months, in an establishment with 15 or more employees.
• Jury Duty Leave: Employees in Maine can take leave to attend jury duty. It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee for attending jury duty. If an employer violates this rule, the employee can take legal action and seek compensation for lost wages or benefits.
• Leave for Victims of Violence: Employees in Maine can take leave of absence if they or their close family member is a victim of violence, sexual assault, or stalking. During this leave, the employee can attend court hearings, receive medical treatment, assist their close family member with medical treatment, or obtain any necessary services (such as restraining orders) to address the violence. The employer is obligated to grant this leave unless the employee’s absence would cause undue hardship to the business.
• Emergency Response Leave: Employees who need to respond to an emergency and are absent from work are protected from employer retaliation and termination for taking emergency response leave. However, the employee needs to inform the employer in advance if they are a firefighter or a person involved in emergency medical services. Exceptions include if an employer and employee have signed a mutual contract that dictates a specific process for the employee to respond to emergencies.
• Military Leave: Employees in Maine can take 17 days of paid military leave days without losing out on any pay or benefits. Once an employee’s active duty term exceeds 17 days, they are eligible for unpaid military leave. Workers can also use accrued vacation or personal leave for unpaid military service. If an employee’s duty ends within 31 days, they can take a reasonable amount of time traveling back and eights hours of rest before resuming work. 
• Family Military Leave: Employees related to members of the military are eligible to receive unpaid family military leave of 15 days. However, this leave can only be granted for the time period 15 days before or after the family member’s military deployment or on the day of deployment. To avail this leave, employees must give notice 14 days prior to the intended date of leave.

The following are the official public holidays that will be observed in Maine in 2025:

*This list does not apply to employees covered by collective bargaining agreements.

An individual or youth under the age of 18 is considered a minor in Maine. 

The minimum age of employment in Maine is 14. Minors younger than 14 can be employed in agriculture for harvesting and cultivation without the use of dangerous machinery. They can also be employed to serve food and clean up in school lunch programs or in a business run by their parents.

Work Permits for Minors in Maine

Minors aged 16 and under must obtain a work permit before securing employment in Maine. Only one work permit is allowed at a time, except during summer break, when a minor can maintain two. Work permits are not required for minors employed in agriculture. 

Work permits are issued by school superintendents and must be verified by the Bureau of Labor Standards before the minor begins work.

Generally, minors aged 14 to 17 are not allowed to work more than six days a week. Moreover, these children cannot be scheduled to work before 7 a.m. on a school day.

Further details about work hour scheduling for minors are as follows: 

For Minors Aged 14 and 15

When school is in session

• They can work three hours daily, including Friday.
• Weekly work hours may not exceed 18. 
• Work hours can be scheduled between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

During summer break

• They can work eight hours daily.
• They cannot work more than 40 hours weekly. 
• Work hours can be scheduled between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. 

For Minors Aged 16 and 17

When school is in session

• They can work six hours on a school day and eight hours on the last school day of the week. 
• They can work ten hours on weekends, holidays and vacations.
• Weekly work hours may not exceed 18. 
• Work hours can be scheduled between 7 a.m. and 10:15 p.m. on days before a school day.
• They cannot work before 5 a.m. on a non-school day.
• Work hours can be extended till midnight on days before a non-school day.
• Weekly work hours may not exceed 24.

During summer break

• They can work eight hours daily.
• They cannot work more than 50 hours weekly. 
• Work hours can be scheduled between 5 a.m. and midnight.

In Maine, minors under 18 are prohibited from employment in certain occupations including:

Furthermore, minors under the age of 16 cannot be employed as: