Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §621, as amended by PL 1995, c. 340, §1, is further amended to read:

§621. Time of payment

1. Certain employers; payment schedule. Every corporation, person or partnership engaged in a manufacturing, mechanical, mining, quarrying, mercantile, restaurant, hotel, summer camp, beauty parlor, amusement, telegraph or telephone business; in any of the building trades; in logging or lumbering operation; upon public works or in the construction or repair of roads, bridges, sewers, gas, water or electric light works, pipes or lines; every incorporated express company or water company; and every steam railroad company or corporation shall pay weekly each employee engaged in its business the wages earned by the employee to within 8 days of the date of that payment; every county shall so pay every employee who is engaged in its business the wages or salary earned by that employee, unless the employee requests in writing to be paid in a different manner. Municipalities shall pay their employees at least once every 2 weeks unless the employee agrees to be paid under a less frequent pay schedule. An employee who is absent from that employee's regular place of employment at a time fixed for payment must be paid on demand.

2. All employers; payment of balance of hourly wages. Any An employer, regardless of whether enumerated in subsection 1, shall pay to its employee, on or before the employee's next regularly scheduled payday, the balance of the employee's earned hourly wages due to be paid which that were not paid on the date normally scheduled for payment of those wages. This subsection shall may not be construed to permit nonpayment or withholding of payment of wages when due.

SUMMARY

Currently, a wide variety of businesses are required to pay their employees on a weekly basis. The bill removes that provision of law.