Employment · Maine

Can I sue for unpaid overtime in Maine?

the short answer

Past 40 hours in a workweek you are owed one and a half times your regular rate. The federal rule counts by the week and not by the day, so an eleven-hour Monday is not overtime if the week stops at 40, and two weeks may not be averaged together. Nothing in it requires extra pay for nights, weekends or holidays.

source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

everywhere in the u.s.

governing statute29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1)source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

penaltyThe unpaid overtime, and an additional equal amount again as liquidated damages. The court must also allow a reasonable attorney's fee and the costs of the action (29 U.S.C. § 216(b)).source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

limit2 yearssource ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

alsoTwo years to sue, or three if the violation was willful (29 U.S.C. § 255(a)). The clock runs paycheck by paycheck, so every week you wait drops a week off the back of the claim.source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

in this state

Where do you report unpaid overtime in Maine?

free route

The Department of Labor takes the complaint, and Maine applies an unusual rule about who handles it: in wage cases jurisdiction goes to whichever authority offers the worker the most protection, which means the one with the highest enforceable minimum wage. Where a city has set its own higher minimum, the state will refer you to that city's enforcement office.

source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

How much can you sue for in Maine small claims court?

small claims limit

$10,000

source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

What else should you know in Maine?

also

One consequence reaches your overtime directly: where the employer takes a tip credit, Maine calculates overtime on the full minimum wage and not on the lower cash wage, and the employer may not take a bigger tip credit for an overtime hour than for a straight-time one.

source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

your situation

That is the rule. Whether it is your answer is a different question.

Everything above is the law as it reaches everyone in Maine. What it means for you turns on facts only you have. Tell us what happened and we'll ask the same questions a lawyer would — about 90 seconds, free, and anonymous.

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