New Maine law tightens rules on monitoring, home video and personal devices
Maine has passed a new employer surveillance law that tightens notice rules and limits audiovisual monitoring of workers at home and on personal devices.
On January 11, 2026, Maine’s “An Act to Regulate Employer Surveillance to Protect Workers” took effect as Public Law Chapter 524, H.P. 25 – L.D. 61. The act creates a new Employer Surveillance subchapter in Title 26, chapter 7 of the Maine Revised Statutes, designated as subchapter 1‑E, “Employer Surveillance.”
The law begins by defining who and what it covers. An “employee” is any individual who provides services or labor for an employer for wages or other remuneration. An “employer” is any private or public employer, including the State and political subdivisions of the State.
“Employer surveillance” is defined as the monitoring of an employee by an employer through the use of an electronic device or system. The statute lists examples including a computer, telephone, wire or radio system, or an electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photo‑optical system. At the same time, the law makes clear what is not “employer surveillance”: it does not include the use of surveillance cameras for security or safety purposes, or the use of global positioning system tracking or other safety devices on vehicles owned by the employer but operated by the employee.
The core operational rule for HR is straightforward. An employer may not use employer surveillance unless it notifies the employee before beginning that surveillance. For organizations using any form of electronic monitoring that fits the statutory definition, advance notice is now a legal requirement.
The law also restricts where audiovisual monitoring may occur. An employer may not use audiovisual monitoring in an employee’s residence, in an employee’s personal vehicle, or on the employee’s property as a means of employer surveillance, unless the audiovisual monitoring is required by the employer for duties of the job. That creates a default prohibition on job‑related audiovisual monitoring in those personal spaces, with a narrow exception where the monitoring is required for the role.
Personal devices receive specific protection. An employee may decline a request by an employer to install data collection or transmission applications on the employee’s personal electronic devices for the purposes of employer surveillance. For HR and IT in Maine, that means workers have a clear statutory right to say no when the application is designed for employer surveillance on their own devices.
The statute builds surveillance transparency into both hiring and ongoing employment. Any employer using employer surveillance must inform a prospective employee during the employment interview process that the employer engages in such surveillance. In addition, the employer must provide written notice at least once per calendar year to all current employees that it engages in employer surveillance. These requirements give HR a defined cadence for disclosures: during interviews and at least once every calendar year for existing staff.
There is a targeted carve‑out for certain care settings. The section does not apply to employer surveillance that has been installed or caused to be installed by an employer, patient, client or unpaid caregiver in a setting in which personal care services are expected to be provided by an employee. “Personal care services” are defined as services provided by a licensed personal care agency and include, but are not limited to, services related to activities of daily living, household tasks and medication reminders. HR leaders in licensed personal care agencies will need to distinguish between surveillance covered by this carve‑out and surveillance governed by the general rules.
The law includes enforcement and penalty provisions. An employer that violates the section is subject to a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $500 for each violation. The Department of Labor is directed to enforce the section within existing resources using strategic enforcement. The department may also adopt rules as necessary to implement the subchapter, and any such rules are classified as routine technical rules under Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.
Finally, the statute states that it may not be construed to limit the ability of an employer to comply with state and federal laws, rules or regulations related to security, safety and the transmission and handling of data.
For HR professionals and people leaders in Maine, the act sets clear statutory requirements around when employer surveillance may be used, where audiovisual monitoring is off‑limits, what must be disclosed to workers and candidates, and how far employers can go in pushing surveillance onto personal devices.
