Legislation that aims to improve the wages and working conditions of farmworkers in Maine now awaits action by Gov. Janet Mills.
Approved by the House and Senate last week, L.D. 398 would legally define farmworkers as “employees,” making them eligible for the state minimum wage of $13.80 per hour. The bill would also protect them from having to work more than 80 hours of mandatory overtime in any consecutive two-week period.
Under current Maine labor laws, farmworkers aren’t considered employees, so they don’t benefit from minimum wage and overtime protections afforded to most workers, said House Speaker Talbot Ross, D-Portland, when she presented the bill in April.
With few exceptions, she said, farmworkers in Maine are only legally entitled to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which hasn’t changed since 2009.
“While farmworkers in Maine generally make more than that amount, they are not legally protected by Maine’s minimum wage provisions,” Talbot Ross said. “Are Maine’s farmworkers worthy of similar legal protections? In my mind, the answer is clearly yes.”
The governor’s staff said Tuesday that Mills has received the bill and is reviewing it. She has until the end of July 19 to sign or veto the bill, or it automatically becomes law.
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Several workers and human rights groups are calling on Mills to sign the legislation, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.
“We urge Gov. Mills to sign L.D. 398 into law to reduce racial...
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