Downtown Rockland is pictured during a snowstorm in January 2022. The city is one of two in Maine with a higher minimum wage than the one set by the state. Credit: Lauren Abbate / BDN

Rockland’s minimum wage for some workers will increase from $15 per hour to $15.50 on Wednesday.

This increase, which applies to people employed by a company with more than 25 workers, will come at the same time as the state minimum wage increase. The state’s minimum wage will increase from $14.15 per hour to $14.65 on Wednesday.

Portland, the only other Maine city to have a minimum wage higher than the statewide one, will also be increasing its minimum wage on Wednesday, from $15 per hour to $15.50 per hour.

Rockland voters approved a law in November 2020 that increased the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024, with future changes based on cost-of-living increases.

The minimum wage for workers employed by smaller companies will be the state minimum wage. For service employees, the direct minimum wage before tips will be $7.75 per hour in Rockland. If the employee’s tips do not add up to at least $15.50 per hour, the employer must make up the difference.

Jules Walkup reports on the midcoast and is a Report for America corps member. They graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism and moved to Maine from Tampa, Florida in July 2023.

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