New Sen. Tipping law protects Maine workers from losing work and pay
AUGUSTA — Today, a new worker protections law from Sen. Mike Tipping, D-Orono, took effect. LD 598, “An Act to Require Minimum Pay for Reporting to Work,” establishes a new protection for workers by guaranteeing that a worker who reports for a scheduled shift will still receive some pay when an employer cancels their shift at the last minute.
“In recent decades, we’ve seen large businesses move to a just-in-time model for supply chains, with parts and products arriving before they’re needed,” said Sen. Tipping. “That works for the parts and products, but many of these businesses have also moved to a just-in-time model for scheduling their employees. They now use AI and algorithms to track and predict their staffing needs, modifying work schedules on the fly and at the very last minute. The burden of these unpredictable schedules falls heaviest on those workers who get paid the least with the fewest benefits. This new law will help put some more hard-earned wages in their pockets.”
In testimony for the public hearing, Adam Goode from the Maine AFL-CIO told the Legislature’s Labor Committee, which Sen. Tipping chairs, “Mainers who work in hourly jobs often have little or no control over their schedule, and [they] regularly face last-minute changes to the shifts they’ve scheduled to work. Unpredictable schedules are major disruptions for lower wage workers with [negative] impacts on a worker’s physical and mental health.”
The new law includes exemptions for the agricultural, fisheries and seasonal industries. It includes exemptions for adverse weather, natural disasters and illnesses or injuries. Additionally, it exempts workers who are informed of shift cancellations at any time up to the moment they show up for work, even when they are on their way.
According to James Myall from the Maine Center for Economic Policy, prior to this new law, Maine and Vermont were the only two states in New England without some kind of reporting-to-work pay law.
With this new law, Maine workers are guaranteed two hours of pay for reporting to work.
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