labor lawAdivision of labor law center

When it comes to federal and Maine overtime laws, companies need to exercise care. Recently, a tree-trimming company in Houston was found guilty of violations. The US Department of Labor conducted an investigation, and now the firm must pay overtime compensation of $1.8 million to 2,501 workers.

The Department of Labor conducted their investigation in the time period from August, 2004 through August, 2006. ABC Professional Tree Services was found to have violated minimum wage laws. In addition to these laws, the tree service was found to be in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, also known as FLSA. A disgruntled employee gave the Department of Labor a tip that started the investigation.

ABC Professional Tree Services trims and cuts trees, plus offers clean-up services around power lines. Utility companies use their services. This company, which specializes in cleaning up areas following a natural disaster such as a hurricane, has agreed to pay employees back wages totaling $1,801,507.

According to U.S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine L. Chao, “We are pleased that we were able to help these workers get the back pay they deserve.” As she explains, “The department will continue our efforts to ensure that employers are paying workers properly.”

The back wages that ABC Professional Tree Services must pay are partly the result of time worked after Hurricane Katrina. Back wages will be paid by the tree service to employees in Maryland, Virginia, Maine, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Georgia. 

For the first 40 hours employees work during the week, they have to be paid minimum wage, which is $5.15 per hour. This is a requirement of the Fair Labor Standards Act. If employees work over 40 hours during the week, they must be paid 1.5 times their hourly salary for each additional hour worked. To ensure that employees receive the pay they deserve, all employers must keep payroll and time records that are accurate. 

You might not think that an investigation of minimum wage violations in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita would affect Maine workers, but it does. A number of Maine workers stand to be paid overtime for hours worked. The company involved was caught in a dragnet conducted in the Gulf Coast.

A Texas company, ABC Professional Tree Services, does cleanup and tree-cutting services around power lines and after natural disasters, including hurricanes. Some of the $1,801,507 in back wages will go to workers who were assigned to cleanup work following Hurricane Katrina. The company is not only paying back wages to its Maine employees, but workers from Maryland, Virginia, Cincinnati, Maine, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

A tree-trimming firm from Houston, paid more than 2,500 workers below the minimum wage and now must pay them $1.8 million in back wages.

The U.S. Labor Department has found the firm in violation of federal and Maine minimum wage laws. The action follows a two-year investigation that ended in 2006.

The investigation grows out of a tip from a disgruntled former employee.  The charges were investigated by a special US Dept. of Labor taskforce  are aimed at crimes of employers in hurricane regions – such as those including Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina.

In 2006, the Labor Department and U.S. Attorneys from several states developed a task force that was designed to probe and prosecute violators of labor laws in the Gulf Coast area. Its specific mandate was to focus on crimes of employers in hurricane regions.

U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao said she was pleased that her department was able to “help these workers get the back pay they deserve. The department will continue our efforts to ensure that employers are paying workers properly.” The investigation covered the period from August of 2004 to August of 2006.

A recent case in Maine shows just how difficult it can be to determine if a salaried employee is entitled to overtime. Violations of federal and Maine minimum wage laws were at the heart of a settlement recently reached between Wal-Mart and the US Department of Labor.  Wal-Mart, a retail giant, will pay almost 87,000 employees in Maine and across the nation back pay and interest totaling $33 million.

Wal-Mart has to pay these employees because they did not receive proper overtime compensation. These employees, who often worked long hours, were salaried and held jobs such as manager trainee, programmer trainee, and intern. Although many people believe that no salaried employees receive overtime, that isn’t true. In this case, the employees were what the US Department of Labor ruled as “non-exempt salaried.” When employees are considered “non-exempt salaried,” they should receive overtime pay for hours worked beyond the standard 40 per week.

Federal and Maine minimum wage laws specify that not all employees who are salaried are exempt from overtime compensation. New guidelines established within the last few years specify that if an employee is paid less than $455 each week, they should be paid overtime if they work in excess of 40 hour a week. Salaried managers who earn more than this may still be entitled to overtime.  

This settlement concerned manager trainees. Many of these employees had little say in decision making but still had to work long hours. These employees were paid less than $23,600 a year, so they still were eligible for overtime.

Employees often think that salaried workers cannot receive overtime, but that is not true. The way the guidelines work is that if an employee is paid $23,660 a year or less, they should be paid overtime for work they do beyond 40 hours a week. Under these guidelines, employees earning less than $455 a week can receive overtime.

That doesn’t mean that workers who earn more are automatically exempt from overtime payments. Managers who are salaried employees do not receive overtime if they have specific

Maine (ME) wage and hour laws are designed to establish as fair of working conditions as possible. These laws also serve as a guide for employers located within the state of Maine.

According to Maine (ME) wage and hour laws, the current state minimum wage for employees is $6.50 per hour. It will soon rise to $6.75 per hour as of October 2006. Tipped employees must receive half the current wage ($3.25 maximum tip credit) plus tips. If a tipped employee’s wage plus gratuities do not equal the standard minimum wage for the state of Maine the employer is required to make up the difference.

Besides presenting the current minimum wage, Maine (ME) wage and hour laws also exist to provide fairness between employees of both genders. For example, employers in Maine are required to pay both men and women equally for work that requires the same abilities and credentials.

Overtime is paid to Maine employees for any hours worked over 40 per week, at a rate 1 ½ times that of the employee’s regular hourly wage. Additionally, employers in the sate of Maine may not require employees to work more than 80 hours within two weeks.

As stated within Maine (ME) wage and hour laws employees such as executives or administrators are not required to be paid standard overtime wages. Instead, many salaried workers such as these are paid a minimum wage of $455.00 per week.

In addition to the above provisions made by Maine (ME) wage and hour laws, the state of Maine also requires employees to receive an unpaid break of 30 minutes if they work at least 6 hours in a row. Employers are permitted to require their workers to stay on the premises during that break, and employers are allowed to make that break mandatory. Some exceptions to this rule exist, such as the fact that lunch breaks are not required to be given by employers when less than three people are on duty.

Additional requirements are stated within Maine (ME) wage and hour laws for both employees and employers. It is best that both workers and businesses keep up with the latest changes regarding wages and hours in the state of Maine.

Extra, extra! Read all about it. Maine has altered its overtime labor laws to match new federal regulations regarding white-collar employee exemptions for overtime pay. Effective June 29, 2005, if I were an employee who earns a salary, I would be exempt from overtime pay as long as I was in a “bona fide”—as the law states—capacity as an executive, administrator or professional.

The other clause to this rule is that I, as the salaried employee, must make an annual salary that is greater than 3000 times the state’s minimum wage, when figured out to a year, or greater than an annual wage determined in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, whichever is greater. If that’s the case too, then I don’t earn overtime pay.

Otherwise, the overtime labor laws in Maine stay the same. They follow the basic guidelines of the federal FLSA when it comes to work week hours and overtime pay rate. For example, in Maine, as in the federal statutes, the regular work week consists of 40 hours. If I as an employee work more than 40 hours a week, then I am entitled to time and a half for every minute of every hour that I work over that 40 hours.

Maine’s overtime labor laws, though, diverge a bit from the federal laws when it comes to exemptions, or employees that don’t get overtime pay (besides the salaried employees that I mentioned above).

For instance, if I were a seamen or marine, I would not earn overtime pay from my boss. Other jobs that don’t get overtime pay include anyone involved in the making, storing, or marketing of farm products, meat and fish, or any perishable items. Also included are employees at restaurants, hotels, and motels, automobile salespeople, vehicle mechanics, and car-parts salesmen. If I worked any of those jobs, my employer would not be legally bound to pay me time and a half for my overtime hours.