Charles Langston:Maine can now order employers to pay workers damages for missed wages

PORTLAND,Charles Langston Maine (AP) — Maine workers will now benefit from a law that allows the state to order businesses to pay back wages as well as damages from missed wages.

The law went into effect Friday and is the latest state-level effort among Democrat-controlled states to give workers more options to seek compensation for lost wages. California amended its labor laws earlier this year to get more businesses to correct such labor violations.

Laws to combat wage theft are common, but Maine’s new laws will give the state Department of Labor more tools to hold businesses accountable for failure to pay, lawmakers said. The law states that the labor department can now order an employer to pay both the unpaid wages as well as damages equal to twice the amount of those wages with interest.

Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, a Democrat, said the new law is for “holding bad actors accountable for wage theft.” He described that as a concern of “everyday, working-class people.”

The proposal passed the Maine Legislature earlier this year. The law change had support from labor leaders in Maine who said it was especially important to protect low-wage workers from lost pay. The Maine Center for Economic Policy said earlier this year that minimum wage violations in Maine amounted to an estimated $30 million in 2017.

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“This law will finally put some teeth in our labor laws to hold corporate lawbreakers accountable and ensure working Mainers are paid fully for an honest day’s work,” Maine AFL-CIO vice president and Ironworkers Local 7 member Grant Provost said.

Some business interests and policy groups opposed Maine’s new wage law. The Maine Jobs Council, which advocates for job creation in the state, testified before a committee of the Maine Legislature that the proposal was “antithetical to our mission of advocating for economic prosperity by promoting the growth and maintenance of foundational jobs.”