Opinion ID: 1926123
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: minimum wage claim

Text: [¶ 17] The employees next claim that their employers' practice of bi-weekly payment also constituted a violation of 26 M.R.S.A. §§ 661-672, which establishes minimum wage requirements for work performed in Maine. The employees do not contend, however, that the employers have violated the minimum wage statute as to the amount of the hourly wage paid; rather, they argue that this claim should not have been dismissed because a minimum wage must be paid promptly when due, and that they could prove facts to show a violation of this requirement. [¶ 18] The minimum wage statute, however, contains no time-of-payment language. The protection granted by the statute is of a different kind than the protections provided for in section 621. The statute is meant to protect employees from being paid too little. Sections 621 and 626-A protect employees from not being paid in a timely manner. Enforcement of the time of payment of employees is limited to the scheme expressly provided by the Legislature in sections 621 and 626-A. The employees' claims under the Act were properly dismissed.