In spite of important opposition from Maine’s organization neighborhood, which include the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and leaders in the tourism, hospitality, and modest business enterprise communities, Governor Janet Mills signed into legislation Legislative Document (L.D.) 225, “An Act About the Therapy of Vacation Time on the Cessation of Employment” on April 7, 2022. The law amends 26 M.R.S.A. § 626 to involve every single employer with a lot more than 10 personnel to shell out its personnel, on the cessation of employment, “[a]ll unused paid out holiday accrued pursuant to the employer’s trip policy on and right after January 1, 2023.”
Aside from developing notable financial burdens for companies throughout the state, L.D. 225 appears to conflict with Maine’s Earned Paid out Leave regulation and is already building substantial confusion for Maine’s enterprise community.
The freshly enacted regulation does not offer a very clear definition of what leave it addresses, aside from “unused paid family vacation accrued pursuant to the employer’s family vacation coverage.” In accordance to prepared testimony provided to the Maine Legislature by the Maine Condition Chamber of Commerce, Maine Division of Labor, and HospitalityMaine, a number of Maine’s larger companies are performing to clarify their paid time off (PTO) courses and shifting away from adaptable PTO, which gains companies and staff members alike, to different sick depart and trip depart policies. Other companies are revising their procedures to present for “earned leave” or “personal time.” The new law’s provisions also fail to deal with employers’ ability to set once-a-year caps on carryover of unused compensated leave.
Under L.D. 225, employers with “vacation policies” would appear to be needed to pay back unused, accrued holiday vacation pay out to workers discharged for misconduct, including theft, assault, or other violations of office policies.
With the enactment of L.D. 225, Maine’s new holiday pay legislation, Maine gets just one of only a handful of states, which includes California, Colorado, and Massachusetts, mandating the payment of unused, accrued holiday upon an employee’s separation from employment. Given that the passage of Maine’s Acquired Paid Depart regulation, the Maine Department of Labor experiences having fielded a considerably elevated selection of inquiries from employers and staff on the topic of paid out leave, and it expects this variety to enhance exponentially with the enactment of Maine’s holiday pay law.
