The First Special Session of the 131^st Maine Legislature included debate about more than 2,000 bills. Many that were adopted will impact employers in the Pine Tree State. Below is a brief summary of important employment law changes enacted this session.

An Act to Create the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program

The budget signed by Maine Governor Janet Mills on July 11, 2023, included funding for one of the broadest and most generous paid family and medical leave programs in the country.

L.D. 1964 provides up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year to all eligible employees in the private and public sectors, except for employees of the federal government, regardless of employer size. The leave is available for the employees' own conditions as well as the conditions of legal or biological family members with whom they have "a significant personal bond that is or is like a family relationship regardless of biological or legal relationship." An employee qualifies for the paid leave program immediately after starting employment.

To fund this new program, the state will impose a 1% payroll tax split evenly between the employer and employee. The payroll tax will take effect on January 1, 2025, and employees can start taking leave in 2026. Details about this expansive new law are explained in this Littler Insight.

Increased Limits on Awards for Compensatory and Punitive Damages Under the Maine Human Rights Act

Signed and enacted into law on June 12, 2023, L.D. 1423 more...

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