AUGUSTA — A bill to protect earned pay for laid-off workers earned initial House approval Tuesday. The mostly party-line vote was 84-61.

“Being laid off creates a terrible burden on Maine families,” said Rep. Paul Gilbert, D-Jay, member of the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee and co-sponsor of the bill. “This bill is about fairness for Mainers who have earned this pay through their work and have been laid off through no fault of their own.”

LD 675, An Act to Protect Earned Pay, allows employees who have not yet been compensated for unused vacation pay to remain eligible for unemployment compensation immediately. This bill reverses a 2010 Republican-backed law that forces laid-off workers who have accrued more than four weeks of earned vacation pay to wait that number of weeks before collecting unemployment insurance.

“If you haven’t taken your vacation time yet, you’ll have to wait for weeks before you can begin collecting unemployment,” Gilbert said. “This is unfair to workers who showed up every day to do their job.”

The bill faces further action in the Senate and House.