The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Maine
- Level
- State
- Authority
- P.L. 1969, c. 454; P.L. 1975, c. 519; sec. 561-A enacted by P.L. 2013, c. 473, sec. 5; 29 U.S.C. sec. 667 (State Plan for public employees, approved Aug. 5, 2015)
- Issued
- 2025-10-20 Oct. 20, 2025
- Effective
- standing; text in force throughout March 2020 to September 2021 (read as 2025-10-20)
- End
- standing
- In force
- Standing since Oct. 20, 2025 (a statutory duty; in force throughout the six quarters)
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Workplace rulesStanding duty
- Addressees
- employers (public employers only: 'the State, state agency, county, municipal corporation, school district or other political corporation or political subdivisions having employees,' sec. 563(7)); private employers are governed by the identical federal duty, 29 U.S.C. sec. 654(a)(1) (Ex. DUT-CT-009), under federal OSHA's retained jurisdiction (Ex. DUT-ME-006)
- Character
- workplace duty
- Collection
- Standing duties: Maine DUT-ME
Operative words
An employer shall furnish to each employee employment and a place of employment that are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to the employee.... An employer shall comply with occupational safety and health rules adopted under this chapter.
Penalty
26 M.R.S. sec. 46: civil penalty up to $1,000 for each serious violation (mandatory) and each other violation (discretionary) of sec. 45 or any standard, rule or order under sec. 565; up to $1,000 for each day of a willful or repeated violation; sec. 49: Superior Court restraint of imminent-danger conditions; sec. 45: citation with abatement date, posted at the place of violation
What it required
Every public employer in Maine (the State, its agencies, counties, municipalities, school districts and other political subdivisions) to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm and to comply with the Board of Occupational Safety and Health's rules, which by statute conform at a minimum to the federal OSHA standards, with the Bureau of Labor Standards inspecting and enforcing (sec. 566) and issuing citations and penalties under 26 M.R.S. secs. 45-46 (Ex. DUT-ME-007).
Retrieval noteMaine is a federal-OSHA State for private employers; the State Plan covers State and local government employees only (Ex. DUT-ME-006). Sec. 561-A tracks 29 U.S.C. sec. 654(a)(1)-(2) word for word for the public sector, so that in Maine every employer, public or private, owed the same general duty from March 2020 onward: the private employer under the federal clause enforced by OSHA Region 1 (with the Interim Enforcement Response Plans of Apr. 13, 2020, May 19, 2020, Mar. 12, 2021 and July 7, 2021, Exs. AGY-FED-LABOR-IMMIGRATION-020, -024, -025 and FED-084; OSHA 3990, Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19, Ex. FED-088; the COVID-19 Healthcare ETS, 29 C.F.R. sec. 1910.502, from June 21, 2021, Ex. ECO-B-012), the public employer under sec. 561-A enforced by the Bureau of Labor Standards (SafetyWorks!). Sec. 565: the Board's rules 'must at a minimum conform to federal standards of occupational safety and health so that the state program can be federally approved as a public employee only occupational safety and health program.' Sec. 570 forbids discrimination against an employee who files a complaint or exercises rights under the chapter. The file date in the name is the compilation date.