On January 1, 2019, Maine’s minimum wage increased from $10 an hour to $11 an hour. The change reflects the gradually increasing minimum wage approved by voters in 2016 in a citizen’s referendum, which raised Maine’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $9 an hour in 2017; $10 an hour in…
A federal judge has recently ruled that he had no choice but to dismiss the wage theft claims of thousands of Chipotle employees because of the Supreme Court’s decision from last year in Epic Systems v. Lewis. In order to keep or get their jobs with Chipotle, the company forced…
This week, the Supreme Court held in the Epic Systems case that corporations may legally force employees to choose between their jobs and their right to bring class or collective actions for wage theft—which really is not a choice at all. The vast majority of employees cannot refuse their employers’…
A member of the New York City Council has introduced a bill that would prohibit retaliation against workers in the private sector who do not check their email after work hours. The bill is modeled after a similar law in France that went into effect last year. “Technology has made…
This week, Maine’s House of Representatives voted down a bill that would have slowed the rise of the minimum wage. In 2016, Maine voters approved a referendum to increase the minimum wage. The referendum calls for gradual annual increases up to $12 per hour in 2020. The bill voted down…
Minimum wage workers in Maine will receive a pay increase to $10 per hour starting on January 1. This is a scheduled increase mandated by minimum-wage legislation enacted after a voter referendum in 2016. The minimum wage will continue to increase to $12 per hour by 2020 and then will…
After Maine recently passed an increase to the minimum wage, many Maine restaurant workers who depend on tips voiced serious concerns. They believed that the increased minimum wage would actually cause them to make less money. They feared that restaurant owners would raise prices and cut workers’ shifts. Some said…
In an important decision for transportation workers, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a trucking company cannot use the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to force its truckers to bring their claims against the company in arbitration. As we have previously discussed, companies often force workers to…
There are going to be changes to Maine’s wage and hour laws in 2017. Starting on January 7, 2017, the minimum wage in Maine will rise to $9 per hour and it will rise each year until it reaches $12 per hour in 2020. (The wages for tipped employees are…
Do you have a job where your work schedule unpredictably changes every week or every other week? If so, a new study shows that you’re more likely than someone with a more predictable work schedule to suffer adverse health effects. The researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and UC Berkeley…