Maine Law Requires Employee Compensation When Employers Cancel or Shorten Shifts

Quick Hits

• A new law in Maine requires certain employers to pay workers who report to work but have their shift cancelled or shortened.
• The law will take effect on September 24, 2025.

The law applies to employers with at least ten employees for more than 120 days in a calendar year. The amount of pay required is the lesser of two hours’ worth of wages at the worker’s regular pay rate or the total pay for the shift for which the employee was initially scheduled. The rule does not apply to salaried employees who are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime and minimum wage provisions.

Employers that make documented, good-faith efforts to notify workers not to report to their scheduled shifts will not be required to pay wages under the law. If an employee reports to work after the employer’s unsuccessful attempt to notify the employee of a cancelled shift, “or if the employer is prevented” from notifying an employee of a cancelled shift “for any reason, the employee shall perform whatever duties are assigned by the employer at the time the employee reports to work, as long as the employee is physically able to perform those duties.” The compensation requirement “do[es] not apply if an employee is not required to work or is unable to work due to:

1. Adverse weather conditions;
2. A natural disaster civil emergency;
3. An illness or medical condition of the employee; or
4. A workplace injury of the employee.”

Employers may be subject to a fine between $100 and $500 for each violation of the law.

Next Steps

Employers in Maine may wish to revise their written policies and practices to ensure compliance with the pay requirement before September 24, 2025. Employers may consider training managers to understand the new law and its application to hourly workers.

Ogletree Deakins will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Maine and Wage and Hour blogs as new information becomes available.

Aimee Blanchard Parsons is a shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ Portland, Maine, office.

This article was co-authored by Leah J. Shepherd, who is a writer in Ogletree Deakins’ Washington, D.C., office.

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