Pending final approval, more Maine workers may soon be eligible for overtime pay

A bill to expand the number of workers in Maine who receive overtime pay was approved by the Legislature this week in an action meant to correspond with a proposed rule put forward by the federal government. 

LD 513, sponsored by Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot), would adjust the amount an employee has to make to be exempt from overtime pay to $55,068 a year or the annual rate stipulated by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, whichever is higher. 

The bill is meant to largely match a rule proposed last year by the U.S. Department of Labor. Under that federal proposal, most salaried workers earning less than $55,068 would receive overtime — extending that labor standard to 3.6 million additional employees around the country. The federal government is expected to finalize the proposed rule sometime this month. 

The Maine Senate voted 21-13 in favor of LD 513 on Tuesday, with Democrats mostly supporting the measure and Republicans mostly opposing it. The Maine House of Representatives then voted 76-67 on Wednesday in support of the bill. 

Currently, an employee in Maine can be exempt from overtime pay if they are paid on a salary basis; perform primarily executive, administrative or professional duties; and make more than $42,450.20 a year. 

The new overtime threshold in Maine would begin Jan. 1, 2025, and would be adjusted annually based on weekly earnings data published by the U.S. Department of Labor. That would differ slightly from the proposed federal rule, which would update the overtime salary threshold every three years. 

Rep. Gary Drinkwater (R-Milford) spoke against the bill on Wednesday, arguing that it is “jumping ahead and guessing what the U.S. Department [of Labor] will do later this spring” and that LD 513 will “unjustifiably impose extra costs on Maine employers.” 

But Rep. Marc Malon (D-Biddeford), a supporter of the bill, cast the measure as a common-sense workers’ rights reform. 

“This bill is simple in concept and is meant to provide basic fairness to workers who work in an executive, administration or professional capacity,” he said, noting that the annual adjustments to the overtime threshold would help ensure employees continue to receive the benefits they’re entitled to moving forward. 

A previous legislative effort to conform state overtime laws to the federal level died in the Democratic-controlled Labor and Housing Committee in 2020.