State says it won't enforce tip credit wage hike next month

AUGUSTA — In a move that critics immediately denounced, the state Department of Labor said Thursday it won’t enforce a provision against employers who don’t comply with a change in the tip credit for workers for at least the first few weeks after it takes effect on Jan. 7.

It is only a temporary move to see how the issue plays out when the Legislature convenes next month, said Julie Rabinowitz, the department’s director of policy, operations and communication. It doesn’t change the legal requirement that employers compensate workers at the new, higher level.

“It is entirely appropriate for the Department of Labor to take time to help employers and workers understand and comply with the law without taking them to task,” Gov. Paul LePage said in a prepared statement that quickly drew criticism from the sponsors of the ballot initiative endorsed by Maine voters in November.

Mainers for Fair Wages Campaign Manager Amy Halsted said the governor “has now gone beyond ignoring the will of Maine voters and is flat-out encouraging employers to commit wage theft.”

Read more: http://www.sunjournal.com/news/maine/0001/11/30/state-says-it-wont-enforce-tip-credit-wage-hike-next-month/2046293