Maine Limits Access to Social Media Accounts of Employees and Applicants | Practical Law

Maine Limits Access to Social Media Accounts of Employees and Applicants | Practical Law

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court found that HP 640 - L.D. 921 was enacted as law when Governor Paul LePage missed a deadline to veto the bill. The new law limits an employer's access to the social media accounts of its employees and job applicants.

Maine Limits Access to Social Media Accounts of Employees and Applicants

Practical Law Legal Update 4-618-1083 (Approx. 8 pages)

Maine Limits Access to Social Media Accounts of Employees and Applicants

by Practical Law Labor & Employment
Published on 18 Aug 2015 • Maine
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court found that HP 640 - L.D. 921 was enacted as law when Governor Paul LePage missed a deadline to veto the bill. The new law limits an employer's access to the social media accounts of its employees and job applicants.
On August 6, 2015, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court found that HP 640 - L.D. 921 had been enacted as law on July 12, 2015, when Governor Paul LePage missed a deadline to veto it and more than 60 other bills (see Opinion of Justices, 2015 ME 107, (2015)). The new law limits an employer's access to the social media accounts of its employees and job applicants. Under the law, an employer is prohibited from:
  • Requiring or coercing an employee or job applicant to:
    • disclose his social media accounts' usernames or passwords;
    • access his social media accounts while in the employer's presence; or
    • divulge information contained on his social media accounts.
  • Requiring or causing an employee or applicant to:
    • add anyone as a contact on a personal social media account; or
    • alter settings that affect a third party’s ability to view the contents of a personal social media account.
  • Retaliating or taking adverse actions against employees for refusing to comply with an employer request that violates this law.
The new law does not prohibit an employer from:
  • Accessing information that is in the public domain.
  • Complying with:
    • pre-hiring screening requirements;
    • duties to retain employee communications necessary to supervise financial and regulatory communications for banking-, insurance- or securities-related business purposes; or
    • rights and obligations to require or request an employee to provide social media access information believed to be relevant to an investigation of allegations of the employee's misconduct or violation of laws or regulations.
  • Creating and maintaining lawful work policies governing the use of the employer's electronic equipment including requirements that employees provide usernames and passwords for the employer to:
    • access employer-issued electronic devices; or
    • employer-provided software or email accounts.