Minimum Wage and Overtime
26 M.R.S. § 664 — a wage raised each January 1 by the cost of living, and time and a half past 40
The minimum hourly wage reached $12.00 on January 1, 2020, and each January 1 since it rises by the increase, if any, in the cost of living, measured by the Northeast consumer price index for wage earners and rounded to the nearest 5 cents. If the federal minimum goes higher, Maine's rises to match.
Who handles this in Maine: Maine Department of Labor, Labor Standards; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Maine directory.
Overtime. No employer requires work past 40 hours in a week unless 1 1/2 times the regular hourly rate is paid for every hour over 40. The regular rate includes earnings, bonuses and commissions paid for actual work.
The overtime rule does not reach automobile mechanics, parts clerks, service writers and salespersons, mariners, most public employees, or the processing and distributing of farm produce, meat and fish products and perishable foods, among others.
Sources for this section (1)
- 26 M.R.S. § 664 — Minimum wage; overtime rate
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Maine attorney.