An Act to Expand Access to the Maine Wage Assurance Fund
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0066
Sponsors: SKOLD
Amends: 26 MRSA §632

Legislative Document
No. 66
H.P. 30
House of Representatives, January 8, 2025
An Act to Expand Access to the Maine Wage Assurance Fund
Submitted by the Department of Labor pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Received by the Clerk of the House on January 6, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Labor pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SKOLD of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §632, as corrected by RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. E, §21, is amended to 
read:
§632.  Fund for unpaid wages and certain liquidated damages
1.  Fund established.  There is established the Maine Wage Assurance Fund to be used 
by the Bureau of Labor Standards within the Department of Labor for the purpose of 
assuring that all former employees of employers within the State receive payment for wages 
and liquidated damages, in an amount equal to the wages, for a maximum of 2 4 weeks for 
the work they have performed. The Legislature intends that payment of earned wages and 
liquidated damages from the fund be limited to those cases when the employer has 
terminated the employer's business and there are no assets of the employer from which 
earned wages may be paid or when the employer has filed under any provision of the 
Federal Bankruptcy Act. An officer or director in the case of a corporation, partner in the 
case of a partnership or owner in the case of a sole proprietorship may not be considered 
an employee for purposes of this section.
2.  Administration.  The fund shall must be administered by the Director of the Bureau 
of Labor Standards. Applications for payment from the fund and disbursements from the 
fund shall must be in accordance with regulations promulgated rules adopted by the 
director. The State shall must be subrogated to any claims against an employer for unpaid 
wages and liquidated damages, in an amount equal to the wages, by an employee who has 
received payment from the fund. Subrogation to these claims shall must be to the extent of 
payment from the fund to the employee.
3.  Amount in fund.  The Maine Wage Assurance Fund is a nonlapsing, revolving 
fund limited to a maximum of $200,000. All money collected from an employer pursuant 
to a claim for unpaid wages and liquidated damages, in an amount equal to the wages, by 
an employee who has received payment from the fund, or by the State as the employee's 
subrogee, is credited to the fund.
The fund must be established and augmented periodically as necessary.
Money in the fund not needed currently to meet claims against the fund  must be deposited 
with the Treasurer of State to be credited to the fund and may be invested in such manner 
as is provided for by statute. Interest received on that investment  must be credited to the 
Maine Wage Assurance Fund.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the laws governing the Maine Wage Assurance Fund to increase the 
number of weeks for which payment may be made from 2 to 4. It also includes an equal 
amount of liquidated damages payable to the employee.