Maine was the first state in the country to require sexual harassment training, in 1991, a year before Connecticut and more than a decade before California. The requirement lives in 26 M.R.S. section 807 and is enforced alongside the Maine Human Rights Act.
Who is covered
Employers with fifteen or more employees must conduct sexual harassment training for all employees within one year of the start of employment. That threshold is higher than Connecticut’s three or California’s five, so smaller Maine operators fall outside the mandate, though the Maine Human Rights Act still prohibits harassment regardless of headcount.
Maine in practice
Augusta is the state capital, with employment concentrated in Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, South Portland, and Auburn. Maine runs a heavily seasonal hospitality economy: coastal restaurants, tourism, and a craft brewing and distilling scene centred on Portland that has grown well past its size.
The seasonal pattern is what makes the fifteen-employee threshold slippery. An operator who sits at eight employees through the winter and twenty-five through the summer needs to know which side of the line they are on and when.
What the training must cover
Maine specifies the content, and it is more prescriptive than most states:
Written notice that sexual harassment is unlawful
The state’s legal definition of sexual harassment
A description of sexual harassment using examples
The employer’s internal complaint process
The legal recourse and complaint process available through the Maine Human Rights Commission
Directions on how to contact the Commission
The legal prohibition against retaliation
Supervisors get a second, separate training
Beyond the all-employee training, employers must conduct additional training for supervisory and managerial employees within one year of when their employment begins. That training must cover, at minimum, their specific responsibility and the methods they must use to ensure immediate and appropriate corrective action in addressing sexual harassment complaints.
Note the standard: immediate and appropriate corrective action. Maine puts the obligation on the supervisor to act, not merely to pass a complaint along.
Recordkeeping is mandatory here
Unlike several states, Maine requires it. Employers must keep a record of the training including a record of which employees received it, maintain those records for at least three years, and make them available for inspection by the Maine Department of Labor on request.
That inspection right is the practical reason to run training through a system that produces dated, per-employee completion records rather than a signed sheet in a filing cabinet.
Running it across a seasonal roster
The one-year window sounds generous until you are hiring forty seasonal staff in May. A company account lets you assign at onboarding, keep the supervisory track separate from the all-employee track, and export the three-year record the Department of Labor can ask for.
Maine sexual harassment training FAQ
Is sexual harassment training required in Maine?
Yes, for employers with fifteen or more employees. Training must be conducted within one year of the start of employment.
Do supervisors need different training?
Yes. Supervisory and managerial employees need additional training within one year of employment starting, covering their specific responsibility and the methods for taking immediate and appropriate corrective action.
How long must training records be kept?
At least three years, including a record of which employees were trained, available for Maine Department of Labor inspection on request.
What if I have fewer than fifteen employees?
The training mandate does not apply, but the Maine Human Rights Act still prohibits sexual harassment and training remains a sensible risk measure.
Was Maine really the first state to require this?
Yes. Maine enacted its training requirement in 1991, ahead of Connecticut in 1992 and California in the mid-2000s.
Harassment training in other states
Requirements differ sharply by state on duration, frequency, and headcount thresholds, so take the version for the state you operate in: Massachusetts, Michigan, Iowa, and more in the full compliance catalog. If your state sets no mandate, the general non-state-specific course covers the federal baseline. Track completion across a roster from the Learn Brands dashboard.
Buying for a team?
Seats are $18.99 each. Register your business free and assign seats across your whole staff. You can see who has started, who has finished, and when certificates expire from the Learn Brands dashboard.