An Act to Require Timely Payment for Salaried Employees
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1278
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: TIPPING
Amends: 26 MRSA §621-A, 26 MRSA §622, 26 MRSA §623

Legislative Document
No. 1278
S.P. 515
In Senate, March 21, 2023
An Act to Require Timely Payment for Salaried Employees
Submitted by the Department of Labor pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Labor and Housing suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator TIPPING of Penobscot.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §621-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2017, c. 219, §8, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Minimum frequency and full payment.  At regular intervals not to exceed 16 
days, every employer must pay in full all wages earned by each employee, except members 
of the family of the employer and salaried employees.  Each payment must include all 
wages earned to within 8 days of the payment date.  Payments that fall on a day when the 
business is regularly closed must be paid no later than the following business day.  An 
employee who is absent from work at a time fixed for payment must be paid as if the 
employee was not absent. For purposes of this subsection, "members of the family of the 
employer" and "salaried employees" have the same meanings as described in section 663, 
subsection 3, paragraphs J and K, respectively.
Sec. 2.  26 MRSA §621-A, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2005, c. 103, §1, is further 
amended to read:
5.  Change in rate of pay.  Notwithstanding the provision of section 623 exempting 
salaried employees as defined in section 663, subsection 3, paragraph K, payment Payment 
of wages or salary must be made at the rate previously established by the employer, except 
that the employer may decrease the rate of pay, effective the next working day, if the 
employer gives notice to all affected employees prior to the change.  When an employer 
has temporarily increased an employee's wage rate to comply with the prevailing wage 
requirements of chapter 15; the federal Davis-Bacon Act, 40 United States Code, Section 
276a et seq.; or other applicable federal or state law, an employer need not provide advance 
notice prior to returning the employee to the employee's regular wage rate, as long as the 
employer is in compliance with all posting and notice provisions of the applicable law.  
Changes of rates of pay made under a collective bargaining agreement are exempt from 
this requirement.
Sec. 3.  26 MRSA §622, as amended by PL 2017, c. 219, §10, is further amended to 
read:
§622.  Records
Every employer shall keep a true record showing the date and amount paid to each 
employee pursuant to section 621‑A.  Every employer shall keep a daily record of the time 
worked by each such employee unless the employee is paid a salary that is fixed without 
regard for the number of hours worked, except salaried employees as described in section 
663, subsection 3, paragraph K.  Records required to be kept by this section must be 
accessible to any representative of the department at any reasonable hour.  Sections 621‑A 
to 623 and 622 do not excuse any employer subject to section 774 from keeping the records 
required by that section.
Sec. 4.  26 MRSA §623, as amended by PL 2005, c. 18, §2, is further amended to 
read:
§623.  Exemptions
This section and sections Sections 621‑A and 622 do not apply to family members and 
salaried employees as defined in section 663, subsection 3, paragraphs J and K.  Sections 
621‑A and 622 do not apply to an employee of a limited liability partnership and do not 
apply to an employee of an S corporation or a cooperative corporation or association if the 
employee is a stockholder of the corporation or association, unless the employee requests 
the association or corporation to pay that employee in accordance with section 621‑A.  
Except as provided in section 621‑A, subsections 3, 4 and 5, a corporation, contractor, 
person or partnership may not by a special contract with an employee or by any other means 
exempt itself from this section and sections 621‑A and 622.
SUMMARY
This bill makes the following changes to the laws governing the timely payment to 
salaried workers.
1.  It exempts members of the employer's family and salaried employees from the 
requirement that an employer pay in full at regular intervals all wages earned by an 
employee.
2.  It removes the exemption for salaried employees from the requirements relating to 
the rate of pay and records regarding time worked.
3.  It adds S corporations and limited liability partnerships to the exemptions from the 
requirements relating to the rate of pay and records regarding time worked.