Employers hiring in Maine work under two layers of rules. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act sets the baseline for any background check run through a consumer reporting agency, and Maine adds its own statutes on when criminal history can be asked about, how certain older records are treated, and when a drug test can be used. This guide walks through both layers so a Maine employer knows what the law actually requires before a background check goes out, and what to do with the results once they come back.
None of this is legal advice. Maine employment law changes, and a specific hiring decision, especially one touching a licensed occupation or a unionized workplace, should go through an attorney familiar with Maine labor law before it is finalized.
The federal baseline: the FCRA applies to every Maine employer
Any time an employer uses a third party consumer reporting agency, rather than its own staff, to pull a criminal history, driving record, or other background report on a candidate or employee, the Fair Credit Reporting Act governs the process. Section 1681b requires a permissible purpose for the report and, for employment screening, a clear written disclosure to the applicant that a report may be obtained, separate from the job application itself, along with the applicant’s written authorization before the report is requested. If the employer is considering taking an adverse action, such as declining to hire, based on information in the report, the FCRA requires a pre adverse action notice with a copy of the report and the Summary of Rights, a reasonable opportunity for the applicant to respond, and then a separate adverse action notice if the employer proceeds.
The FCRA also limits how long certain information can be reported. Under 15 U.S.C. 1681c, most adverse items, including arrests that did not lead to a conviction, generally cannot be reported after seven years. Criminal convictions themselves are not subject to that seven year cap under federal law and can generally be reported regardless of age, though Maine’s own rules on criminal history, discussed below, can still affect what an employer sees or how it may use it. A Maine employer that wants the mechanics of the disclosure and authorization paperwork, or the step by step adverse action sequence, can review the process in more detail in a background check consent and authorization guide and in a walkthrough of the FCRA adverse action process.
Maine’s ban the box law limits the initial application
Maine’s own criminal history rule for employers sits in Title 26, section 600-A of the Maine Revised Statutes, enacted in 2021 and applying to employers of every size operating in the state. The statute does two things on the initial employee application form. First, an employer may not request criminal history record information on that initial application. Second, an employer may not state on the application, in an advertisement, or otherwise before determining a candidate is qualified, that a person with a criminal history will not be considered.
The law carves out a narrow exception. An employer may ask about criminal convictions on the initial application, or state that certain convictions disqualify a candidate, only where a federal or state law or rule creates a mandatory or presumptive disqualification tied to specific offenses, and the question is limited to those offense types. Outside that narrow carve out, Maine employers move the criminal history conversation to the interview stage or later, once a candidate has otherwise been found qualified. At that point the employer may inquire, but the statute also requires that the employer give the candidate a chance to explain the circumstances of any conviction, including evidence of rehabilitation since the offense.
What happens to older or non conviction records
Maine does not currently have a general court process for sealing or expunging adult criminal convictions. A statutory scheme that would have let certain people petition to restrict dissemination of an eligible conviction was enacted in 2015 and later repealed, so employers should not assume Maine offers a broad sealing remedy the way some other states do. Where Maine law does draw a line is in its Criminal History Record Information Act. Under Title 16, section 703, categories such as an arrest with no disposition after more than a year has passed, a declined prosecution, a dismissed case, or an acquittal are treated as confidential criminal history record information, with narrower rules on who can access and disseminate them than apply to an actual conviction. In practice this means a Maine employer should expect that non conviction information is handled differently from a conviction, and should not treat an arrest alone as equivalent to a finding of guilt.
Ordering a state criminal history check
Maine’s central repository for criminal history records is the State Bureau of Identification, a unit of the Maine State Police. The Bureau processes fingerprint based criminal history checks that many licensing boards, schools, and healthcare employers in Maine require as a condition of a credential or a position working with vulnerable populations. A private employer running a general pre employment background check through a consumer reporting agency is not the same process as a fingerprint based Bureau check, and the two should not be confused. Where a specific Maine license or a position serving children, patients, or residents requires a state or FBI fingerprint check, that requirement usually comes from the licensing statute or agency rule for that occupation, not from the general employment screening rules described in this guide, so an employer in a regulated field should confirm the applicable licensing requirement separately.
Maine Human Rights Act and the EEOC framework
The Maine Human Rights Commission enforces the state’s employment discrimination law. Title 5, section 4572 of the Maine Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in hiring and employment based on protected categories including race, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin, and familial status. Maine’s statute does not list a prior criminal record as a protected category on its own, so the Human Rights Act is not the source of the ban the box limits described above, those come from Title 26 section 600-A. The Human Rights Act does matter when a background check or a related inquiry has a disparate effect on a protected group, or when a disability related issue, such as a past substance use disorder, gets confused with a current conviction.
At the federal level, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has long taken the position that an employer’s blanket exclusion of applicants with any criminal record can run afoul of Title VII when it has a disproportionate impact on a protected group without being job related. The agency’s widely cited 2012 enforcement guidance on this topic was rescinded, and the guidance document is no longer available at its old address, so employers should rely on the EEOC’s current materials rather than that withdrawn guidance. A useful current starting point is the EEOC’s own page on prohibited employment policies and practices, which still explains the individualized assessment concept in general terms even without the retired 2012 document behind it. Employers with specific fact patterns, particularly around the intersection of criminal history and disability discrimination, may want counsel’s read on current EEOC enforcement positions rather than relying on any single guidance document.
Drug testing under Maine law
Maine is one of the few states with a dedicated statute governing workplace substance use testing. Title 26, section 681 and the surrounding subchapter do not require any employer to test, but they do limit employers that choose to test. The statute states its purpose as protecting employee privacy from undue invasion through testing while still allowing testing where an employer has a compelling reason, ensuring proper test procedures so results are reliable, giving an employee with a substance use disorder an opportunity for treatment and a path back to work, reducing drug use in the workplace, and protecting employees from injuries caused by impairment on the job. An employer that opts into testing under the subchapter must follow its procedures once a test has been initiated, and a collective bargaining agreement may provide employees greater protection than the statute’s floor, though it may not authorize random testing of union members under the statute’s own terms. An employer building a drug testing policy on top of a background check program should treat the two as separate compliance tracks, since the FCRA governs the background report and Maine’s substance use testing subchapter governs the drug test itself.
Maine employer rules at a glance
| Rule | Maine’s approach |
|---|---|
| Ban the box scope | Applies to all employers in the state; no criminal history question or disqualifying statement on the initial application, with a narrow exception for positions carrying a legal disqualification tied to specific offenses. |
| When criminal history can be asked | At interview or once the candidate is otherwise found qualified; candidate must be given a chance to explain the record. |
| Lookback or reporting limit | No separate Maine lookback statute for employer background checks; the FCRA’s seven year limit on most non conviction adverse items is the operative federal rule. |
| Sealing or expungement statute | No current general sealing process for adult convictions; the 2015 statute allowing petitions for restricted dissemination was repealed. Certain non conviction records are treated as confidential under the state Criminal History Record Information Act. |
| Drug testing statute | Title 26, section 681 and its subchapter regulate employers that choose to test; testing is not mandatory, but a participating employer must follow the statute’s procedures. |
Frequently asked questions
Can a Maine employer ask about criminal history on the job application?
Generally no. Under Title 26, section 600-A an employer may not request criminal history on the initial application or state that a criminal record disqualifies a candidate, except in the narrow case where a specific law or rule creates a mandatory or presumptive disqualification for the position.
Does Maine have a seven year lookback law for background checks?
Maine does not have its own separate lookback statute for private employer background checks. The relevant time limit comes from the federal FCRA, which generally restricts reporting of most adverse non conviction information after seven years, while convictions themselves are not subject to that federal cap.
Can a Maine employer require a drug test before hiring?
Maine law does not require employers to drug test, but an employer that chooses to test is regulated by Title 26, section 681 and the surrounding subchapter, which sets procedural requirements and privacy protections an employer must follow once testing is adopted.
Is there a way to get a criminal record sealed in Maine?
Maine does not currently have a broad court process for sealing adult convictions. A 2015 law that would have allowed petitions for restricted dissemination of certain eligible convictions was later repealed, so employers should not assume sealed or expunged conviction records are common in Maine the way they may be in some other states.
Does the EEOC’s 2012 guidance on criminal records still apply?
No. The EEOC rescinded that 2012 enforcement guidance and the document is no longer posted at its prior address. Employers should look to the EEOC’s current published materials on prohibited employment practices rather than cite the withdrawn 2012 guidance.
Who enforces discrimination claims tied to background checks in Maine?
The Maine Human Rights Commission enforces the Maine Human Rights Act under Title 5, section 4572. The Act covers protected categories such as race, sex, disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin, and familial status, and may come into play when a background check practice has a disparate effect on a protected group, though the ban the box rules themselves come from a separate statute, Title 26 section 600-A.
Running a compliant background check program in Maine starts with the FCRA disclosure, authorization, and adverse action steps, and a reliable partner can help keep that process consistent. Learn more at Reveal Background.
This article is general information about Maine and federal background check law, not legal advice. Employment decisions involving criminal history, disability, or drug testing should be reviewed with a qualified attorney familiar with Maine law.
