Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:

Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the following:

Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.

summary

This amendment, which is the majority report of the Joint Standing Committee on Labor and Housing, replaces the title and the bill. This amendment does the following:

1. It requires an employer, except in a seasonal industry, that employs more than 10 employees for more than 120 days in any calendar year to permit each employee to earn paid leave based on the employee's base pay;

2. It specifies that an employee is entitled to earn one hour of paid leave from a single employer for every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours in one year of employment, with accrual of leave beginning at the start of employment;

3. It requires an employee to work for 120 days before an employer is required to permit use of accrued earned paid leave;

4. It requires an employer to pay an employee taking earned leave at least the same base rate of pay that employee received immediately prior to taking earned leave and provide the same benefits as those provided under established policies of the employer pertaining to other types of paid leave;

5. It requires an employee, absent an emergency, illness or other sudden necessity for taking earned leave, to give reasonable notice to the employee's supervisor of the employee's intent to use leave;

6. It specifies that an employee taking earned leave maintains any employee benefits accrued before the date on which the leave commenced and the leave may not affect the employee's right to health insurance benefits on the same terms and conditions as applicable to similarly situated employees;

7. It provides the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards the exclusive authority to enforce the law and requires the Department of Labor to adopt routine technical rules to implement and enforce the law;

8. It allows for the imposition of penalties currently established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 26, section 53;

9. It preempts the authority of a municipality or other political subdivision to enact any ordinance or other rule purporting to have the force of law under its home rule or other authority regulating earned paid leave;

10. It requires the Department of Labor to adopt routine technical rules to implement and enforce provisions regarding earned paid leave;

11. It specifies that earned paid leave does not apply to an employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement during the period between January 1, 2021 and the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement; and

12. It requires the Department of Labor, beginning January 1, 2022 and annually thereafter, to report progress to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over labor matters.