The First Regular Session of the 121st Maine Legislature recently wrapped-up and, once again, bills affecting the employment relationship were among the most hotly-debated.  Although other issues like health care and tax reform garnered more public attention, employment-related bills were among the most divisive within both the Maine Senate and House of Representatives.  In the end, the large majority of the proposed changes to Maine law in this arena were either narrowly rejected or carried over for reconsideration next year.  A few, however, were enacted into law.  Some highlights  include:

• L.D. 523, An Act To Hold Supervisors Personally Liable for Discrimination in the Workplace:  In its original form, this bill sought to “clarify” the Maine Human Rights Act to hold supervisors personally liable for their acts of discrimination and harassment in the workplace.  This liability would be in addition to, not in lieu of, the employer’s liability.    As you may recall, last session a bill seeking to clarify that supervisors are not personally liable under the Act was narrowly defeated.  After a lengthy public hearing and worksession, the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted to carry the bill over to next session for further consideration.

 L.D. 561, An Act To Improve Standards for Public Assistance to Employers in the State:  This bill proposed to impose strict wage and benefit standards on any Maine employer that benefits from the State’s tax incentive programs, including BETR and TIF.  Like L.D. 523, this bill was carried over to next session by the Legislature’s Labor Committee.        

• L.D. 752, Resolve, Directing the Department of Labor To Develop the Family Security Fund To Implement the Recommendations of the Committee to Continue to Study the Benefits and Costs for Increasing Access to Family and Medical Leave for Maine Families:  This bill proposed to create a State-run paid family medical leave system, providing workers with up to twenty-six (26) weeks of benefits, funded in significant part by employer contributions.  Recognizing that the cost of the program may cripple many Maine businesses in this fragile economy, the Legislature’s Labor Committee voted unanimously to carry this bill over to next session for further consideration.

• L.D. 1117, An Act Regarding Wrongful Discharge:  As initially proposed, this bill sought to codify that any employee dismissal that was carried out in violation of the employer’s own personnel manual is per se “wrongful” under Maine law.  Apparently, the genesis of the bill was a concern that some Maine employees are not being adequately informed that under Maine’s employment at-will doctrine, they may be terminated for any non-discriminatory reason, or for no reason whatsoever.  Ultimately, the Legislature stripped down the bill to require only that the Department of Labor include in their publicly-distributed posters a description of the employment at-will doctrine.

• L.D. 1131, An Act to Require that Certain Employees Be Paid on a Weekly Basis:  This bill sought to require that minimum wage employees be paid on a weekly basis.  After passing in the House of Representatives, the bill was killed on the Senate floor by a 22-12 margin.

• L.D. 1163, An Act To Provide That Employee Terminations by Any Company That Receives Monetary Benefits from the State Require Just Cause:  As presented, this legislation proposed to bar employers that participate in State tax incentive programs like BETR and TIF from terminating employees except for “just cause” – a term that was left undefined in the bill and in Maine statute.  After the Labor Committee voted in favor of this bill, 8-5, in a strictly partisan vote, the bill was defeated on the House and Senate floors by extremely close margins.

• L.D. 1425, An Act Relating to the Protection of Whistleblowers:  Enacted by the Legislature with little debate, this bill sought to broaden the circumstances under which employees receive so-called “whistleblower” protections.  After a public hearing on the bill, the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to amend the language to provide that an employee falls under Maine’s Whistleblower’s Protection Act where he or she refuses, in good faith, to carry out a directive from his/her employer that would result in a violation of law.  Originally, the bill was far broader, proposing to expand whistleblower protections to any employee who refuses to carry out a directive because he/she “reasonably believes” that it would be illegal to do so.