It's a good time to be married to a Maine State employee, am I right? If you can't tell by my quirky intro to this story, my wife is in fact a Maine State employee.

Now, if you haven't heard, let me fill you in on the drama that has been unfolding between the State of Maine and the Maine Service Employees Association Local 1989 and the Maine Labor Relations Board.

According to an article posted by WGME 13, the DAFS, or Department of Administrative and Financial Services said that an agreement has been reached between Maine Governor Mills and the Maine Service Employees Association which, at this current time, is responsible for representing more than 9,000 state employees.

Recently, there has been much back and forth between the union and the state with how to best move ahead with reclassifying employee pay and compensation structure. Finally, as resolution has been achieved. Part of this resolution will include a one-time payment of $2,000 to more than 9,000 state employees that fall under the MSEA.

Additionally, the state has agreed to hire a third-party company that will come in to do and evaluate research on how Maine's state employee classification and compensation system is working.

The Department of Administrative and Financial Services says that the whole idea behind this third-party study is to ensure that the Maine State classification system is on par with other states and that people doing similar work in similar positions are also making similar pay.

Additionally, WGME goes on to explain that part of the research will be used to make sure that the State of Maine is able to both attract and retain employees by having a fair or above-average compensation plan.

However, don't expect results anytime soon. WGME says that the results of this study aren't due in front of the Maine Legislature until the beginning of September, 2026.

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