Home›Obligations›United States›By state›Maine

What a Maine business has to have in writing

Maine's written-policy load is concentrated in employment law rather than data law. Every employer must post a sexual harassment poster and hand every employee an individual written harassment notice each year, and employers with fifteen or more staff must run a documented training program with retained records.

Any employer that drug tests has to get its written testing policy approved by the Department of Labor before using it. On pay, the Equal Pay Law bars pay-secrecy rules and a separate section bans compensation history questions before an offer.

Maine has a breach notification statute and an insurance data security act, but no comprehensive consumer privacy law, and its OSHA State Plan covers only public employers.

Maine has a rule of its own in 10 of the 14 areas, listed below. In 4 more we searched the state's own site and found nothing beyond the federal rule, but we have not finished writing up where we looked, so those are not shown yet.

Headcount

Industry  General is always on

Share
Ad from the publisher
Policy  Acknowledgment  Proof
MaineHandbook 2026acknowledged by name
Maine on Recordwith AllyMatter
Cover Maine the Modern WayEvery policy Maine makes you write, acknowledged by name
01
Approve it, lock the version
Non-author approval, obsolete copies blocked
02
Every employee in Maine on record
Who read which version, and when
03
Walk into any state inspection with the trail
From $29/mo, 20 editors, unlimited staff (published)

Maine rules for a 15–19 person general business

We check the same 14 areas of state law on every state page: breach notification, data security program, consumer privacy law, biometric and health data, harassment prevention, workplace safety programs, workplace violence prevention, insurance data security, state vendor security program, paid leave policies, required postings, pay transparency, licensing and certifications, and other written policies. Federal rules apply in most of these already. What this page adds is whether Maine has a rule of its own on top. The federal rules every employer carries follow the Maine rules. Each row names what you must write, post, file or certify, who enforces it, and links to the authority.

Breach Notification 1Who you must tell after a data breach, and how fast

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Notice of Risk to Personal Data Act10 M.R.S. §§ 1346-1350-B #Any person or business that maintains computerized personal information about Maine residents, plus information brokersDistribute
Notice
Investigate promptly after learning of a possible breach, then send written notice to each affected Maine resident as quickly as possible and no later than 30 days after discovery, and send the same notice to the Attorney General or, for a regulated firm, to the Bureau of its regulator. If more than 1,000 people are affected, also notify the national consumer reporting agencies of the timing and scope.
From the first employee
Maine Attorney General; Department of Professional and Financial Regulation for its licensees

Harassment Prevention 1A written policy, and in some states annual training, on harassment

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Sexual harassment policy, notice and training requirement26 M.R.S. § 807 (Title 26, ch. 7, subch. 4-B) #Every Maine employer must post and give annual written notice; the training duty starts at 15 employeesWrite + ack
Written policy
Post the state sexual harassment poster where employees can see it and give every employee an individual written notice each year covering what harassment is, the internal complaint route, how to file with the Maine Human Rights Commission and the ban on retaliation. Employers with 15 or more employees must also train every new hire within a year, run extra supervisor training, build the program off the Department of Labor compliance checklist and keep training records for at least three years.
From the first employee
Maine Department of Labor (notice and training); Maine Human Rights Commission (discrimination claims)

Workplace Safety Programs 1Written programs the state safety agency requires beyond federal OSHA

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Maine State Plan (public employers only)26 M.R.S. ch. 6; 29 CFR 1956 (Maine State Plan) #State and local government employers in Maine; private employers stay under federal OSHAPost
Posting
Public employers follow the standards the Maine Department of Labor adopts, post the state job safety and health poster, keep injury and illness records and report fatalities and hospitalizations. Private employers in Maine post the federal OSHA poster and follow federal recordkeeping instead; Maine's Bureau of Labor Standards offers free consultation to both.
From the first employee
Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards (public sector); federal OSHA (private sector)

State Vendor Security Program 1Certification a vendor needs before selling cloud services to the state

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
MaineIT Remote/Cloud Hosting Policy and Vendor Technology Oversight reviewOffice of Information Technology Remote/Cloud Hosting Policy, revised 30 May 2025; authority under 5 M.R.S. ch. 163 #Any cloud service provider hosting a State of Maine information asset under contractWrite
Written program
A procurement condition set by the state Chief Information Officer, not a statute and not a certification scheme. A cloud provider under contract must file a defined package of reports with the agency contract administrator at contract inception and every year after: physical access controls, its security awareness training curriculum, a twice-yearly self-audit of software and hardware changes, backup and disaster recovery procedures with test results, incident response, change management and event logging procedures, and any third-party risk, audit or vulnerability assessment report it holds. Where a provider cannot meet the annual assurance requirements it must supply a current compliance report instead; the Chief Information Security Officer may ease reporting or grant an interim authority to operate, but a third-party audit report on its own buys no blanket exemption. State data must stay in the continental United States and off shared multi-tenant infrastructure for non-public data, and the provider carries remediation costs for breaches traced to its own negligence. MaineIT separately runs a Vendor Technology Oversight review of vendor technology during procurement, and GovRAMP lists the State of Maine as a participating government organization, which is voluntary participation rather than a supplier mandate.
From the first employee
Office of Information Technology, Chief Information Security Officer; agency contract administrators; Attorney General's Office

Paid Leave Policies 2Sick and family leave laws that come with a written policy or notice

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Earned Paid Leave26 M.R.S. § 637 #Employers with more than 10 employees in Maine for more than 120 days in a calendar year; seasonal industries excludedWrite
Written policy
Let employees accrue one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked, usable for any reason, up to 40 hours a year, and carry the balance over. Publish the accrual, notice and carryover terms in a written paid leave policy, post the Department of Labor earned paid leave notice and apply any waiting period consistently.
11+ employees
Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards
Paid Family and Medical Leave program26 M.R.S. ch. 7, subch. 6-C (§§ 850-A to 850-Q); notice duty at § 850-I #Nearly all Maine employers; premium contributions began January 2025 and benefits open May 2026Distribute + ack
Notice
Post the state PFML workplace notice and give each employee written notice of the program, contribution rates, benefit amounts, job protection and the anti-retaliation rule at hire and when terms change. Employers remit quarterly premiums or run an approved private plan, and must document how leave requests are handled and how workers return to their role.
From the first employee
Maine Department of Labor, Paid Family and Medical Leave Program

Required Postings 1The notices every workplace in the state must display

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Required workplace posters26 M.R.S. (various: §§ 42-B, 637, 807, 663 et seq.); 39-A M.R.S. (workers' compensation) #Every Maine employerPost
Posting
Display the Department of Labor's current poster set where employees gather: minimum wage, regulation of employment, video display terminal notice, whistleblower protection, sexual harassment, earned paid leave, paid family and medical leave, child labor, workers' compensation and unemployment. The department supplies the posters free.
From the first employee
Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards

Pay Transparency 2Salary ranges in job posts and pay disclosure on request

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Maine Equal Pay Law and compensation history ban26 M.R.S. §§ 628, 628-A #All Maine employers, at every stage from job application to ongoing employmentWrite
Written policy
Handbooks, offer letters and confidentiality rules must not bar an employee from disclosing their own pay or asking about a colleague's pay where the purpose is to enforce equal pay rights. Application forms, screening questions and interview scripts must not seek an applicant's compensation history, from the applicant or from a current or former employer, until an offer stating all terms of compensation has been made.
From the first employee
Maine Department of Labor
Pay transparency in job postingsAccessed and verified  2026-10-0726 M.R.S. § 622-A (Public Law, Chapter 771, approved April 24, 2026) #Employers with 10 or more employees for the posting statement; the on-request pay range and the pay-history record are written for every employerDistribute
Notice
In every job posting, state the range of pay you will offer a successful applicant, including postings made through a third party; a commission-only job says instead that the pay is based solely on commission. When an employee asks, tell them the pay range for the position they hold, and keep a record of each position an employee holds and the pay history in each for the length of employment plus three years.
From the first employee
Maine Department of Labor

Licensing and Certifications 1Registrations, licenses and certifications a business or its staff must hold

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Business registration (Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions)13-C M.R.S. (corporations); 31 M.R.S. ch. 21 (LLCs); 31 M.R.S. (partnerships) #Any corporation, LLC, partnership, nonprofit or out-of-state entity doing business in MaineFile
Filing / record
File formation or foreign-qualification documents with the Secretary of State, keep a registered agent on record and file the annual report by June 1 each year to stay in good standing.
From the first employee
Maine Secretary of State, Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions

Other Written Policies 2Any other document the state makes an employer write or hand out

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Substance Use Testing Law (written testing policy)26 M.R.S. §§ 681-690 #Any employer that tests employees or applicants for drugs or alcoholWrite
Written policy
Write a substance use testing policy and submit it to the Maine Department of Labor for approval before any testing; employers with a collective bargaining unit must negotiate the policy. The policy has to set out who may be tested and on what grounds, the collection and confirmation procedure, confidentiality, consequences and rehabilitation. Employers with 20 or more employees must also run a substance use education program, and every employee gets a written copy of the approved policy.
From the first employee
Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards
Noncompete agreement notice and restrictions26 M.R.S. § 599-A #Any Maine employer that uses noncompete agreements; agreements are barred for employees earning at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty levelDistribute + ack
Notice
Tell applicants in the job posting or before an offer that a noncompete will be required, then deliver the actual agreement at least three business days before it must be signed. A noncompete cannot take effect until the employee has worked a year or been employed six months, whichever is later.
From the first employee
Maine Department of Labor

Because You Are in Construction 1Industry layer

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Home construction contract requirement10 M.R.S. § 1487 (Home Construction Contracts Act) #Contractors doing home construction or repair work in Maine worth more than $3,000 in materials and laborWrite + ack
Written policy
Use a written, signed contract that names the parties, describes the work and materials, sets the price and payment schedule, gives start and completion dates, states warranty terms, explains how change orders are handled and tells the homeowner about the dispute resolution option. Maine does not license general contractors, so the written contract is the compliance artifact.
From the first employee
Maine Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division; private civil action

Because You Are in Food & Beverage 1Industry layer

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Eating establishment license22 M.R.S. ch. 562; Maine Food Code (10-144 CMR ch. 200) #Restaurants, mobile units, caterers, bakeries and other eating establishments, plus lodging places and campgroundsFile
Filing / record
Apply to the Health Inspection Program for an eating establishment license before opening, renew it annually, pass inspections and keep a person in charge on site who can demonstrate the food safety knowledge the Maine Food Code expects.
From the first employee
Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Health Inspection Program

Because You Are in Financial & Tax 1Industry layer

LawProduceWhat it requiresTriggerEnforced by
Maine Insurance Data Security Act24-A M.R.S. ch. 24-B (§§ 2261-2272) #Insurance licensees of the Bureau of Insurance; a licensee with fewer than 10 employees and independent contractors is exempt from the security-program dutyCertify
Certification
Build a written information security program sized to the business and grounded in a risk assessment, with third-party service provider oversight, a written incident response plan and at least annual reporting to the board. Domestic insurance carriers file a written certification of compliance with the Superintendent by April 15 each year and keep the supporting records for five years; cybersecurity events get reported to the Superintendent.
10+ employees
Maine Bureau of Insurance (Superintendent of Insurance)

From the publisher

Keep Your Written Policies in One Place

Whatever you are working toward, AllyMatter gets your policies approved, keeps every version and records who has read each one.

See how AllyMatter works ↗From $29/mo, 20 editors, unlimited staff

Need a hand implementing it?

Find a Consultant Who Does This Work

Tell us what you need done and we will point you to firms that do this work. Your details go to a firm only when you choose it.

About this data

Pages on this site are compiled by AllyMatter and checked against one or more sources, two or more where available. Each record shows its stage and date. Nothing here is legal, audit or tax advice, and policyandcompliance.com and AllyMatter, Inc. accept no responsibility for errors or for decisions made on it. Read the source, then decide.
How we compile and verify →

Think something is wrong?

[email protected]
Tell us the page and what you found. We check it against the source and fix it.

Want to advertise here?

[email protected]
Consultant listings, tool listings, press releases and the primary spot, flat fee, paid in advance. Prices and rules · Design examples · Press releases.