Eastern · Healthcare
Healthcare scheduling laws in Maine.
Maine caps MANDATORY overtime rather than overtime itself — no employee can be forced to work more than 80 hours of overtime in any consecutive two-week period. For nurses it goes further: a refusal to work beyond 12 consecutive hours cannot be disciplined.
Last updated 2026-07. Statute citations linked inline. Not legal advice — consult counsel for compliance audits.
Rules that affect your schedule
3 Maine rules to know.
Each rule includes the statute reference and how Weekwright helps you stay compliant. We focus on rules that affect the schedule itself — not every wage-and-hour topic.
80-hour mandatory overtime cap per two weeks
26 M.R.S.A. §603An employee cannot be required to work more than 80 hours of overtime in any consecutive 2-week period, where overtime means hours beyond 40 in a calendar week. Voluntary hours beyond that are a different question from mandated ones.
How Weekwright helps
MAX_HOURS_PER_WEEK enforces the weekly boundary the cap is measured from, and the payroll export splits overtime per ISO week rather than per pay period — so a two-week total is the sum of two figures you can actually defend rather than an average that hides one heavy week.
Exceptions to the cap
26 M.R.S.A. §603The 80-hour limit does not apply to work responding to a Governor-declared emergency, essential public services (utilities, snowplowing, road maintenance, telecommunications), work protecting public health or safety outside the normal course of business, seasonal employers operating under 26 weeks a year, or medical interns and residents.
How Weekwright helps
Severity is per rule, so a seasonal operator who is genuinely exempt can run the same cap at WARNING instead of BLOCKING and keep the visibility without the block. Changing a rule is itself audit-logged.
Nurses: 12 consecutive hours and the 10-hour recovery
26 M.R.S.A. §603A nurse cannot be disciplined for refusing to work more than 12 consecutive hours except in an unforeseen emergency where overtime is a last resort for patient safety. A nurse mandated beyond 12 hours must then receive at least 10 consecutive hours off immediately afterwards.
How Weekwright helps
This is exactly a pair of rules: MAX_HOURS_PER_DAY at 12 and MIN_REST_HOURS_BETWEEN_SHIFTS at 10, both BLOCKING. The 10-hour recovery is the one people forget, because it only bites on the shift AFTER the long one — and a rest rule is the only thing that catches it at publish time.
Official sources
Citations link to the primary statute, ordinance, or agency page so you can verify against the original. This is research guidance, not legal advice — consult counsel for compliance audits.
Pricing
Per seat. Predictable across states.
Compliance rules apply per location, so a chain operating in Maine and elsewhere runs each rule set independently.
Starter
For your first scheduled week.
$0/mo, billed annuallyStart free- 1 location, up to 20 employees
- Unlimited weekly schedules
- Time-off, swaps, templates
- Email support
- Most popular
Core
The agent writes your week.
$32/mo, billed annually · per locationStart free- Unlimited employees — hiring never changes your bill
- AI weekly drafts + gap fill
- Conversational scheduling chat
- Compliance rules engine
- Open shifts, swaps, templates
Pro
Core plus the answers.
$65/mo, billed annually · per locationStart free- Everything in Core
- Per-shift assignment explanations
- Cross-week fairness + reliability
- Proactive weekly manager briefing
- Attendance, coverage + break analytics
Business
For multi-location operators.
$82/mo, billed annually · per locationTalk to us- Everything in Pro
- + $99/mo platform fee
- SSO (Google Workspace)
- Audit retention 7 years
- Jurisdiction compliance baseline
- Priority support
Common questions
Maine healthcare FAQ.
What scheduling laws does Maine have for healthcare?
Maine caps MANDATORY overtime rather than overtime itself — no employee can be forced to work more than 80 hours of overtime in any consecutive two-week period. For nurses it goes further: a refusal to work beyond 12 consecutive hours cannot be disciplined. The most relevant rules for healthcare are: 80-hour mandatory overtime cap per two weeks, Exceptions to the cap, Nurses: 12 consecutive hours and the 10-hour recovery.
How does Weekwright help comply with Maine scheduling laws?
Weekwright ships with a configurable compliance rules engine. Maine-relevant rules (rest periods, consecutive-day limits, daily overtime caps) are checked at every shift create, move, and publish. The audit log captures every change for predictability-pay calculations and labor-board responses.
Does Weekwright automatically update when Maine labor laws change?
We track changes to the major scheduling-related laws (predictive scheduling ordinances, sick leave, daily overtime). Compliance rule defaults can be updated org-wide; we don't push silent changes — labor law is sensitive enough that we surface the diff first.
What about healthcare businesses outside Maine?
Weekwright is multi-jurisdiction friendly. Each location pins its IANA timezone and its own set of compliance rules — a chain operating in Maine and another state runs both rule sets independently, on the same dashboard.
Schedule healthcare compliantly in Maine.
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