Global Compliance Desk – Maine

Earned Employee Leave Enacted

Maine has signed into law “An Act Authorizing Earned Employee Leave,” earlier enacted as “An Act To Support Healthy Workplaces and Healthy Families by Providing Earned Paid Sick Leave to Certain Employees” the first law in the nation to allow employees to use mandated paid leave for any reason. The new law, signed on May 28, will take effect on January 1, 2021. Nearly 85 percent of Maine’s private sector employees will receive paid leave under the new law.

Accrual

The law requires Maine employers with at least 10 employees who work more than 120 hours in a calendar year, other than seasonal workers, to provide one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours an employee works. An employee can earn up to 40 hours of paid leave annually. The law permits eligible employees to use the paid leave for any reason. Employees can start accruing leave on their first day of work but cannot use the leave until after 120 days of employment.

Rate

An employee while taking earned leave must be paid at least the same base rate of pay that the employee received immediately prior to taking earned leave and must receive the same benefits as those provided under established policies of the employer pertaining to other types of paid leave.

Notice Requirement

Absent an emergency, illness or other sudden necessity for taking earned leave, an employee shall give reasonable notice to the employee’s supervisor of the employee’s intent to use earned leave. Use of leave must be scheduled to prevent undue hardship on the employer as reasonably determined by the employer.

Earned paid leave does not apply to an employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement during the period between January 1, 2021, and the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement

Shreya Bhattacharya

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shreya Bhattacharya

A labor and employment lawyer at Replicon who specializes in global compliance. Replicon provides award-winning products that make it easy to manage your workforce. Replicon is an industry leader in global compliance and has a dedicated team which pro-actively monitors international labor regulations for ensuring proper adherence with specific country rule requirements.

get-started-today

Get started today.
Set up a free trial based on your business needs.

Start Free Trial

employee working on laptop

What Is Time Off in Lieu (TOIL)?

In a highly competitive market, service-based businesses need to capitalize on any opportunity to set themselves apart from their (often very similar) competitors. While implementation, system details, and service management… Read More
Unlock-Maximum-Value-Post-M&A--

How Time Tracking Can Fuel and Serve as a Catalyst Post M&A

The onset of AI and smart machines automating formerly-human jobs has been discussed at length as of late -- often in relation to manufacturing and manual labor jobs. And yet,… Read More
Global Compliance Desk – France

Global Compliance Desk – France

Time magazine labels the millennial generation the “most threatening and exciting generation,” infamous for “narcissism [and] its effect: entitlement.” In the workplace, the perception of the millennial workforce is no… Read More
5 Ways to Improve Service Delivery in Your Organization

5 Ways to Improve Service Delivery in Your Organization

In a highly competitive market, service-based businesses need to capitalize on any opportunity to set themselves apart from their (often very similar) competitors. While implementation, system details, and service management… Read More
consulting industry disruption AI

Will AI replace consultants?

The onset of AI and smart machines automating formerly-human jobs has been discussed at length as of late -- often in relation to manufacturing and manual labor jobs. And yet,… Read More
Demystifying the millennial workforce: 5 tips from Trunk Club’s Andrew Anderson Devine

Demystifying the millennial workforce: 5 tips from Trunk Club’s Andrew Anderson Devine

Time magazine labels the millennial generation the “most threatening and exciting generation,” infamous for “narcissism [and] its effect: entitlement.” In the workplace, the perception of the millennial workforce is no… Read More
  • Polaris
  • Time & Project Insights
  • Time & Projects Solutions
  • Replicon Products
  • Replicon Users
  • Enterprise Time Tracking
  • Thought Leadership
  • Cloud
  • Corporate
  • Professional Services Management
  • Shared Services Management
  • Time and Attendance Management
  • Customer Feature
  • Time Intelligence
  • Industry News
  • Global Compliance Updates
  • Others