The Maine Department of Labor is working with the defunct Richardson Hollow Mental Health Services of Lewiston to get former employees the paychecks they’re owed.

If Richardson Hollow and the department can’t come to an arrangement “soon,” spokesman Adam Fisher of the Department of Labor will notify the Maine Attorney General’s Office to try to collect the money from any assets owned by Richardson Hollow and its founder and chief executive officer, Linda Hertell, of Auburn.

“A lot of people in Maine live paycheck to paycheck and this is a hard thing for them. We’re anxious to help them recover those wages,” Fisher said.

Based in Lewiston, with offices throughout central and coastal Maine, Richardson Hollow served adults and children with mental health issues. At its peak, the 10-year-old company had about 1,000 clients and more than 200 employees.

But for the past several months, Richardson Hollow has faced financial problems. Paychecks ran late and workers weren’t fully reimbursed for mileage. Top managers were laid off. Workers in the “daily living support services” program were told to give up all their benefits or quit. The state requested an audit of the company’s books, questioning its accounting structure.

Then, in mid-September, Richardson Hollow closed its doors. Sweetser, a Saco-based mental health agency, took over the company’s clients and hired many of its workers.

Former employees expected to get the pay they were owed on Tuesday, but they never received those checks.

Earlier this week, John Turner, Hertell’s business consultant, blamed the lack of payment on the Department of Health and Human Services. He said the state cut off Richardson Hollow’s funding and without money the company could not make payroll.

DHHS, however, has said it only cut off the advance payments Richardson Hollow had been getting to stay afloat and it did that weeks ago. The department said Richardson Hollow received all the regular reimbursement money it was due and is not owed any more.

DHHS spokesman John Martins said his department considers all Richardson Hollow matters closed. DHHS plans no further action regarding the business.

The Department of Labor, however, is just beginning its work.

Fisher said he’s heard from about 50 former Richardson Hollow employees, and he believes others in his department have heard from some as well.

“One or two weeks for maybe as many as a hundred people, maybe more, you’re talking about a lot of money,” Fisher said.

If the Department of Labor can’t come to an agreement with Hertell regarding the money, it plans to ask the Attorney General’s Office to help. If there are no assets to pay employees or if the department is unable to collect, Fisher said, it can ultimately pay former employees out of the state’s Wage Assurance Fund.

For more information or to file a claim, call 623-7900. Records about money owed and hours worked may be faxed to 623-7934.

Another avenue for employees is a civil suit. But as of Thursday no such lawsuits have been filed in Androscoggin County Superior Court.