Maine Bosses, Beware! Governor Held Bossware Bill, But Lawmakers Could Reconsider It

Quick Hits

• On May 29, 2025, Maine’s legislature passed a bill to regulate employer surveillance of employees.
• On July 8, 2025, the governor held the bill, so it did not automatically become law without her signature.
• The bill would have prohibited employers from using audiovisual monitoring in an employee’s residence or personal vehicle or on the employee’s property.

House Paper 25 would require private and public employers to inform employees before using electronic surveillance or monitoring technology, colloquially called “bossware.” Employers would be obligated to inform applicants during the interview process that the employer uses surveillance technology.

The bill would prohibit employers from using audiovisual monitoring in an employee’s residence or personal vehicle or on the employee’s property. Furthermore, employees would have the right to decline an employer’s request to install data collection or transmission applications on the employee’s personal electronic devices for the purposes of employer surveillance. The bill would give workers a right to sue for injunctive relief and recovery of civil penalties and attorneys’ fees, if the employer was in violation.

The bill comes as a growing number of employers are using technology to track employees’ movements and actions. This includes cameras in the workplace, GPS tracking on phones and wearable devices, keystroke monitoring, and biometric monitoring. Some employers use these tools to identify potential areas for cost savings and encourage productivity and efficiency.

Several states, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, and New York, have laws that restrict the types of surveillance that employers can place on employees. Maine already has a law that bars employers from requiring employees to divulge information about their social media accounts.

In addition, the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986 protects the privacy of electronic communications, including personal emails, phone calls, text messages, and stored data. Typically, a warrant or subpoena would be required to access those without an employee’s consent. Generally, employers are permitted to monitor workplace communications on company-owned devices and servers.

Next Steps

Lawmakers in Maine could reconsider this bill when the next legislative session begins on December 3, 2025. In the meantime, employers in Maine may wish to review their policies and practices regarding employee surveillance to ensure compliance with state and federal privacy laws. They may wish to assess the effectiveness of the monitoring tools they are currently using.

Ogletree Deakins will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Cybersecurity and Privacy, Maine, and Technology blogs as new information becomes available.

Aimee Blanchard Parsons is a shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ Portland (ME) office.

This article was co-authored by Leah J. Shepherd, who is a writer in Ogletree Deakins’ Washington, D.C., office.

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