PORTLAND, Maine — The minimum wage in Portland will not increase to $18 in December after all, Mayor Kate Snyder announced Tuesday.
Thanks to an ordinance passed on election day, the wage will still increase from $12 to $15 an hour in 2022, but after learning more about the legal implications and risks of paying workers time and a half for hazard pay during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate will not go to $18 in the next 30 days.
Last week, NEWS CENTER Maine spoke with Portland House of Pizza, one of dozens of businesses fired up about the newly passed minimum wage hike.
"It's going to affect everyone one way or another," Craig Allare, Portland House of Pizza's Operations Manager, said. "People feel the need to make more money to survive to get by, but on the same token if people make more money, than things cost more money."
Read that full story here.