CITY OF ROCKLAND, MAINE

ORDINANCE AMENDMENT

ORDINANCE AMENDMENT  Local Minimum Wage Ordinance

THE CITY OF ROCKLAND HEREBY ORDAINS THAT CHAPTER 2, Administration, ARTICLE I, General, BE AMENDED AS FOLLOWS:

ADD:

Sec. 2-116  Local Minimum Wage

1. Definitions:

      Employer: Any individual, group of individuals, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, or any other entity or group of persons or entities who employs or exercises control over the wages, hours, or working conditions of any Employee and who has a place of business within the physical boundaries of the City of Rockland. “Employer” shall include but not be limited to the City of Rockland.

      Employee:  Any person who performs work for an Employer for monetary compensation within the municipal limits of the City of Rockland. Employee shall include persons who perform work for an employer on a full-time, part-time, seasonal or temporary basis. Employee shall not include any person who is exempted from the definition of Employee under 26 M.R.S. §663(3) of Chapter 7, Employment Practices.

      Minimum wage: The minimum hourly rate of monetary compensation that an Employer shall legally pay an Employee for work within the physical boundaries of the City of Rockland.

      State Minimum Wage: The minimum hourly wage established by 26 M.R.S. §664.

      Service Employee: Any Employee engaged in an occupation in which they customarily and regularly receives more than $30.00 a month or more in tips.

      Tip: A sum presented by a customer in recognition of services performed by one or more Service Employees, including a charge automatically included in the customer’s bill. “Tip” does not include a service charge added to a customer’s bill in a banquet or private club setting by agreement between the customer and the Employer.

2. Minimum Wage:

Except as provided herein, Employers with more than 25 employees shall pay all Employees no less than the Minimum Wage established by this ordinance for each hour worked within the physical boundaries of the City of Rockland.

3. Minimum Wage Rate:

13. Beginning on January 1, 2022, the regular Minimum Wage for all Employees, including, but not limited to, Service Employees, shall be set at $13.00 per hour.

14. Beginning on January 1, 2023, the regular Minimum Wage for all Employees, including, but not limited to, Service Employees, shall be raised to $14.00 per hour.

15. Beginning on January 1, 2024, the regular Minimum Wage for all Employees, including, but not limited to, Service Employees, shall be raised to $15.00 per hour.

1. On January 1, 2025 and each January 1st thereafter, the minimum hourly wage then in effect must be increased by the increase, if any, in the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living must be measured by the percentage increase, if any, as of August of the previous year over the level as of August of the year preceding that year in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, CPI-U, for the Northeast Region, or its successor index, as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor agency, with the amount of the minimum wage increase rounded to the nearest multiple of 5¢. If the State Minimum Wage established by 26 M.R.S. § 664 is increased in excess of the minimum wage in effect under this ordinance, the minimum wage under this ordinance is increased to the same amount, effective on the same date as the increase in the state minimum wage, and must be increased in accordance with this ordinance thereafter.

4. Tip Credit:

1. An Employer may consider tips as part of the wages of a Service Employee toward satisfaction of the Minimum Wage established by this ordinance, in accordance with 26 M.R.S. §664(2) and until such time as the tip credit is eliminated under state law. Such a tip credit shall be no greater than half the Minimum Wage rate established by this ordinance.

1. An Employer who elects to use the tip credit, until it is eliminated under state law, must inform the affected employee in advance and must be able to show that the employee receives at least the Minimum Wage established by this ordinance when direct wages and the tip credit are combined. Upon a satisfactory showing by the employee or the employee’s representative that the actual tips received were less than the tip credit, the employer shall increase the direct wages by the difference.

1. The tips received by a Service Employee become the property of the employee and may not be shared with the employer. Tips that are automatically included in the customer’s bill or that are charged to a credit card must be treated like tips given to the Service Employee. A tip that is charged to a credit card must be paid by the employer to the employee by the next regular payday and may not be held while the employer is awaiting reimbursement from a credit card company.

1. This section may not be construed to prohibit an employer from establishing a valid tip pooling arrangement among service employees that is consistent with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and regulations made pursuant to that Act.

664. The meaning of the language used in this section shall be interpreted consistently with the interpretation of the language of 26 M.R.S. §663 and 26 M.R.S. §664.

5. Overtime:

The Minimum Wage set out in this ordinance is subject to the overtime compensation provisions in 26 M.R.S. §664(3).

6. Collective Bargaining Agreements:

Nothing in this ordinance shall be deemed to interfere with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of all Employees including, but not limited to, Service Employees to bargain collectively with their Employers in order to establish wages or other conditions of work in excess of the applicable minimum standards of this ordinance.

7. Retaliation Prohibited:

It shall be unlawful for any Employer to discriminate in any manner or take any adverse action against any Employee including, but not limited to a Service Employee in retaliation for exercising any right under this ordinance.

8. Notice:

Every employer shall post in a conspicuous place at any workplace or job site where any Employee works, a notice informing Employees of the City of Rockland’s current Minimum Wage rates, as well as a copy of this ordinance.

9. Enforcement and Violations:

1. Any Employee, including, but not limited to, a Service Employee, receiving less than the Minimum Wage he or she is required to receive under this ordinance may file a written complaint with the City Manager’s office.

1. The City Manager or his or her designee must investigate and issue a response to the complaint within fifteen (15) work days following the receipt of a complaint. The City Manager’s or their designee’s response to the complaint shall be final.

1. If the City Manager or their designee finds that an Employer has violated this ordinance, they may require the payment of back wages to the affected Employee(s) and impose a fine of $100 per day for the duration of the violation. If the Employer refuses payment of back wages, the fine may be increased by the amount of back wages.