APPROVED CHAPTER
JUNE 10, 2025 235
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
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H.P. 445 - L.D. 706
An Act Regarding the Laws Relating to Unemployment Insurance
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §1043, sub-§3-A, as amended by PL 1995, c. 9, §1, is further
amended to read:
3-A. Alternate base period. For benefit years effective on or after September 27,
1992 for any individual who fails to meet the eligibility requirements of section 1192,
subsection 5 1192-A, subsection 2, paragraph F in the base period as defined in subsection
3, the Department of Labor shall make a redetermination of eligibility based on a base
period that consists of the last 4 completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the
first day of the individual's benefit year. This base period is known as the "alternate base
period." If wage information for the most recent quarter of the alternate base period is not
available to the department from regular quarterly reports of wage information that is
systematically accessible, the department shall gather the necessary data in accordance with
rules established for this purpose.
If the department receives information from the employer that causes a revised monetary
determination under this subsection, benefits received prior to that revision may not
constitute an overpayment of benefits provided as long as the claimant did not knowingly
misrepresent information requested by the department.
Wages that fall within the base period of claims established under this subsection are not
available for reuse in qualifying for any subsequent benefit years under section 1192
1192-A.
In the case of a combined-wage claim pursuant to the arrangement approved by the United
States Secretary of Labor in accordance with section 1082, subsection 12, the base period
is that base period applicable under the unemployment compensation law of the paying
state.
Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §1043, sub-§5, ¶B, as amended by PL 2009, c. 271, §1, is
repealed.
Sec. 3. 26 MRSA §1043, sub-§19, ¶B, as amended by PL 2017, c. 117, §3, is
further amended to read:
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 B. For purposes of section 1191, subsection 2,; section 1192, subsection 5 1192-A,
subsection 2, paragraph F; and section 1221, the term "wages" does not include:
(1) The amount of any payment, including any amount paid by an employer for
insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment, made to,
or on behalf of, an employee or any of the employee's dependents under a plan or
system established by an employer that makes provision for the employer's
employees generally, or for the employer's employees generally and their
dependents, or for a class or classes of the employer's employees, or for a class or
classes of the employer's employees and their dependents, on account of:
(a) Sickness or accident disability, but, in the case of payments made to an
employee or any of the employee's dependents, this subparagraph excludes
from the term "wages" only payments that are received under a workers'
compensation law;
(b) Medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or
accident disability; or
(c) Death;
(1-A) Any payment on account of sickness or accident disability, or medical or
hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, made
by an employer or a 3rd party to, or on behalf of, an employee after the expiration
of 6 calendar months following the last calendar month in which the employee
worked for that employer;
(2) The payment by an employing unit, without deduction from the remuneration
of the employee, of the tax imposed upon an employee under section 3101 of the
Federal Insurance Contributions Act, as amended, with respect to service
performed after July 26, 1940, with respect to remuneration paid to an employee
for domestic service in a private home of the employer or for agricultural labor;
(3) The amount of any payment, other than vacation or sick pay, to an individual
after the month in which the individual attains the age of 62, if the individual did
not perform services for the employing unit in the period for which such payment
is made and is not expected to perform service in the future for the payment; or
(4) The amount of any nominal fee or stipend to a volunteer whose service is
excluded from the definition of employment pursuant to subsection 11, paragraph
F, subparagraph (35);
Sec. 4. 26 MRSA §1051, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2011, c. 645, §1, is further
amended to read:
1. False statement or representation. A person is guilty of unemployment fraud if
that person makes a false statement or representation knowing it to be false or knowingly
fails to disclose a material fact or solicits another person to make a false statement knowing
it to be false or knowingly solicits another person to fail to disclose a material fact:
A. To obtain or increase any benefit or other payment under this chapter or under an
employment security law of any other state or of the Federal Government;
B. To prevent or reduce the payment of unemployment benefits to any individual;
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 C. To avoid becoming or remaining an employer under this chapter; or
D. To avoid or reduce any contribution or other payment required from an employing
unit under this chapter.
Each false statement or representation or failure to disclose a material fact constitutes a
separate offense. Unemployment fraud is theft by deception under Title 17‑A, section 354.
Sec. 5. 26 MRSA §1051, sub-§6, ¶C, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 434, §1, is
amended by amending subparagraph (4) to read:
(4) Upon receipt of an order to withhold issued by the Department of Labor, the
employer or other payor shall immediately begin withholding from the income of
the responsible individual 10% of gross wages, except that the amount withheld
may not exceed an amount by which the individual's disposable earnings are
reduced to a weekly equivalent of 40 times the federal state hourly minimum wage
prescribed by 29 United States Code, Section 206(a)(1) section 664, subsection 1.
Sums withheld must be remitted to the Department of Labor within 10 days of the
date the individual is paid. Any person who honors an order to withhold issued
under this section is discharged from any liability or obligation to the individual
for the amount of the wages withheld.
Sec. 6. 26 MRSA §1051, sub-§10, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 464, §4, is amended
to read:
10. Application of benefit repayments. Amounts received through any means to
repay benefit payments owed to the commissioner must be applied first to any outstanding
penalties, 2nd to any outstanding interest and 3rd to any benefit payments owed to the
commissioner, except that if the repayment of benefit amounts owed to the commissioner
is accomplished by offsetting subsequent benefit payments issued under this chapter, that
repayment may be applied only to the principal amount.
Sec. 7. 26 MRSA §1082, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2021, c. 456, §8, is further
amended to read:
1. Powers and duties of the commissioner. Except as otherwise provided, it is the
duty of the commissioner to administer this chapter, through an organization to be known
as the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation. The commissioner may employ persons,
make expenditures, require reports, make investigations and take other actions the
commissioner determines necessary or suitable to that end. The commissioner is
responsible and possesses the necessary authority for the operation and management of the
Bureau of Unemployment Compensation. The commissioner shall determine methods of
operational procedures in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. The
commissioner may adopt rules in accordance with the Maine Administrative Procedure
Act, Title 5, chapter 375, to achieve this purpose. The commissioner may adopt rules with
respect to a self-employment assistance program as provided in section 1197. The
commissioner shall determine methods of operational procedures in accordance with the
provisions of this chapter and by the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, chapter
375. The commissioner shall make recommendations for amendments to this chapter that
the commissioner determines proper. When the commissioner believes that a change in
contribution or benefit rates is necessary to protect the solvency of the fund, the
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commissioner shall promptly inform the Governor and the Legislature and make
recommendations with respect to the change in rates.
Sec. 8. 26 MRSA §1085, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 644, §4, is
amended by amending subparagraph (3) to read:
(3) An employee of the bureau who has or will be given access to federal tax
information as part of that employee's employment with the bureau and has not
undergone a federal background investigation within the past 10 5 years; or
Sec. 9. 26 MRSA §1191, sub-§4, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 271, §2, is further
amended to read:
A. If a dislocated worker, as defined in section 1196, subsection 1, who is in training
approved under section 1192, subsection 6, 6‑A, 6‑C, 6‑D or 6‑E qualifies for
additional benefits under section 1043, subsection 5, paragraph B 1196, subsection
1-A, or exhausts the worker's entitlement to benefits available to the worker under this
subsection, the maximum amount under this subsection is the product of the worker's
most recent weekly benefit amount multiplied by the number of weeks in which the
worker thereafter attends an approved training program. No An increase may not be
made under this paragraph, with respect to any benefit period, greater than 26 times the
individual's weekly benefit amount.
(1) Benefits paid to an individual under this paragraph may not be charged against
the experience rating record of any employer, but must be charged to the General
Fund.
(2) No benefits Benefits may not be paid under this paragraph to any person an
individual:
(b) Until the person individual has exhausted benefits for which the person
individual is eligible under any an unemployment insurance benefit program
funded in whole or in part by the State Government or the Federal Government;
or
(c) Who is eligible for or who has exhausted, after the effective date of this
paragraph March 20, 1986, trade adjustment allowances as provided by the
United States Trade Act of 1974, Title II, Chapter 2, Public Law 93-617, 19
United States Code, Title 19, Section 2291, et seq. to 2294, and any
amendments or additions thereto, or a similar successor provision of that Act,
except that any individual who was eligible for and received less than 26 weeks
of benefits under the United States Trade Act of 1974 may receive benefits for
the number of weeks by which their that individual's benefits under that Act
are less than 26 weeks.
Sec. 10. 26 MRSA §1192, as corrected by RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. E, §§89 to 92, is
repealed.
Sec. 11. 26 MRSA §1192-A is enacted to read:
§1192-A. Eligibility conditions
The following provisions govern an individual's eligibility to receive benefits under
this chapter.
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 1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the
following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Deputy" means a representative of the bureau designated by the commissioner.
B. "Educational service agency" means a governmental agency or governmental entity
that is established and operated exclusively for the purpose of providing services to one
or more educational institutions.
C. "Good cause" means:
(1) The unemployed individual is ill;
(2) The presence of the unemployed individual is required due to an illness of the
unemployed individual's spouse, child, parent, stepparent, sibling or relative who
has been acting in the capacity of a parent of either the unemployed individual or
the unemployed individual's spouse;
(3) The unemployed individual is in attendance at the funeral of any of the persons
described in subparagraph (2);
(4) The unemployed individual is observing a religious holiday as required by
religious conviction;
(5) The unemployed individual is performing either a military or civil duty as
required by law; and
(6) Another cause of a necessitous and compelling nature, including child care
emergencies and transportation emergencies.
"Good cause" does not include incarceration as a result of a conviction for a felony or
misdemeanor.
D. "Suitable employment" means, with respect to an individual, work of a substantially
equal or higher skill level than the individual's past adversely affected employment, as
defined for purposes of the United States Trade Act of 1974, and wages for that work
at not less than 80% of the individual's average weekly wage as determined for the
purposes of the United States Trade Act of 1974.
E. "Union hiring hall" means a service provided by a labor union or an entity associated
with a labor union that places employees with an employer under a collective
bargaining agreement or otherwise places employees with employers.
2. Eligibility. An unemployed individual is eligible to receive benefits with respect to
any week only if:
A. The individual has made a claim for benefits with respect to the week or part thereof
in accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner;
B. The individual has registered for work at and continued to report at an employment
office in accordance with rules the commissioner adopts, except that the commissioner
may, by rule, waive or alter either or both of the requirements of this paragraph as to
individuals attached to regular jobs and as to such other types of cases or situations
with respect to which the commissioner finds that compliance with the requirements
would be oppressive or would be inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter. A rule
under this paragraph may not conflict with section 1191, subsection 1;
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C. For each week in which a claim for benefits is filed, the individual is actively
seeking work, unless the individual is participating in approved training under
subsection 3 or the work search requirement has been waived in accordance with rules
adopted by the commissioner, and the individual provides evidence of work search
efforts in a manner and form as prescribed by the Department of Labor. Failure to
provide required work search documentation results in a denial of benefits in
accordance with section 1194, subsection 2 for the week or weeks for which
documentation was not provided unless the department determines there is good cause
for the individual's failure to comply with this requirement.
Notwithstanding any provision of this paragraph to the contrary, an individual is
considered to be actively seeking work in accordance with this section if the individual
is a member of, or represented by, a bona fide labor union, or is otherwise authorized
to use the services of a bona fide union hiring hall, maintains contact with that union
and uses and complies with the placement services of the union hiring hall in seeking
work;
D. The individual is able to work and is available for work at the individual's usual or
customary hours, commute, trade, occupation, profession or business or in such other
trade, occupation, profession or business for which the individual's prior training or
experience shows the individual to be fitted or qualified, and in addition to having
complied with paragraphs B and C, is actively seeking work in accordance with the
rules of the commissioner.
Ineligibility may not be determined solely because an individual is unable to accept
employment on a shift, the greater part of which falls between the hours of midnight to
5 a.m., and is unavailable for that employment because of parental obligation, the need
to care for an immediate family member or the unavailability of a personal care
attendant required to assist the unemployed individual who is a person with a disability.
An unemployed individual who is neither able nor available for work due to good cause
as determined by the deputy is eligible to receive prorated benefits for that portion of
the week during which the individual was able and is available.
Notwithstanding this paragraph, an individual who worked full-time for the majority
of the weeks during that individual's base period but is able and available for and
actively seeking only part-time work because of the illness or disability of the
individual or an immediate family member, or because of limitations necessary for the
safety or protection of the individual or the individual's immediate family member,
may not be disqualified from receiving benefits. The individual's benefits must be
prorated in accordance with the individual's current availability;
E. The individual has served a waiting period of one week of total or partial
unemployment. A week may not be counted as a we