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Maine Approves Statewide Paid Sick Leave, Effective 2021


Last week, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed a paid sick leave bill into law that will make the state the 11th in the country to have passed paid sick leave legislation.

The law, set to take effect January 1, 2021, will provide that an employer with more than 10 employees must provide its employees with one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked.  The total amount of paid leave that an employee can earn will be capped at no more than 40 hours in one year of employment.  A win for many employees is the fact that they will be able to start accruing paid leave on their first day of employment.  However, the employer will be able to prevent this paid leave from being used until the employee has been employed for at least 120 days during a one year period.

Many readers might now be wondering what the paid leave rate is that employees in the state will receive.  The approved legislation stipulates that the employee taking paid leave must be paid at least the same base rate that they received immediately prior to taking leave and must also receive the same benefits as those provided under the employer's established policies pertaining to other types of paid leave.

Notably, municipalities in the state are barred form passing their own paid leave rules.

This news out of Maine should be viewed as a positive, given that similar paid leave bills have faltered in New Hampshire and Portland in recent weeks.


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