{ "type": "practice-guide", "canonical": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine", "links": [ { "rel": "self", "href": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine.json", "type": "application/json" }, { "rel": "alternate", "href": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine", "type": "text/html" }, { "rel": "alternate", "href": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine/markdown", "type": "text/markdown" }, { "rel": "alternate", "href": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine/json", "type": "application/json" } ], "data": { "topic": "non-compete", "state": "maine", "frontmatter": { "title": "Non-Competes in Maine", "description": "Maine regulates employee non-competes through 26 M.R.S. § 599-A, using statutory bright-line limits plus Maine common-law reasonableness and as-applied review.", "state": "Maine", "lastReviewed": "2026-06-02", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "authors": [ "steven-obiajulu" ], "summary": { "enforceability": "payThreshold", "bottomLine": "Maine treats non-competes as contrary to public policy and enforces them only when reasonable, and bans them entirely for employees earning at or below 400% of the federal poverty level (and for non-owner veterinarians).", "keyLaw": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A", "exceptions": "Veterinarian (non-owner) ban; health-care-practitioner restriction (L.D. 2200, eff. July 13, 2026); employer no-poach ban (§ 599-B)", "banEffectiveDate": "Wage-floor ban (threshold indexed; $62,600 in 2025)", "courtNarrowing": "unsettled", "appliesToContractors": "unclear", "extendedForBreach": "Not addressed", "maxLength": "No statutory maximum (reasonable duration)", "noticeRequirement": "3 business days before offer deadline or signing", "incomeThreshold": "400% of federal poverty level ($62,600 in 2025)", "saleOfBusiness": "Statute (§ 599-A) reaches only employees; sellers under common-law reasonableness", "customerNonSolicit": "Alternative restrictive covenant under § 599-A", "employeeNonSolicit": "Employer no-poach banned (§ 599-B)" }, "about": [ "Maine non-compete agreements", "Maine restrictive covenants", "26 M.R.S. § 599-A", "Maine no-poach agreements", "Maine veterinarian non-competes", "Maine healthcare non-competes", "Maine employee non-solicitation agreements", "Maine trade secrets" ], "translations": [ { "language": "中文", "status": "planned" }, { "language": "Español", "status": "planned" }, { "language": "Português", "status": "planned" }, { "language": "Deutsch", "status": "planned" } ], "relatedForm": { "slug": "openagreements-restrictive-covenant-maine" } }, "questions": [ { "slug": "employee-non-compete-enforceability", "label": "Are employee non-competes enforceable in Maine?", "heading": "Are employee non-compete agreements enforceable in Maine?", "answerText": "Sometimes, but Maine starts from a statutory anti-restraint rule: 26 M.R.S. § 599-A says non-competes are contrary to public policy and enforceable only if reasonable and no broader than necessary to protect specified employer interests.", "sources": [ { "id": "maine-599a-public-policy-narrow-interests", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A — Noncompete agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A(2).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-A.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A supports Maine's baseline rule that employee non-competes are contrary to public policy and enforceable only to the extent they are reasonable and no broader than necessary to protect enumerated legitimate business interests of the employer.", "verbatimQuote": "Noncompete agreements are contrary to public policy and are enforceable only to the extent that they are reasonable and are no broader than necessary to protect one or more of the following legitimate business interests of the employer:", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599a-public-policy-narrow-interests" }, { "id": "lord-no-wider-than-necessary", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Lord v. Lord", "citation": "Lord v. Lord, 454 A.2d 830, 834 (Me. 1983).", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2367150/lord-v-lord/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2367150/lord-v-lord/#:~:text=We%20have%20long%20recognized%20that,the%20business%20interests%20in%20issue.", "proposition": "Lord supports Maine's common-law rule that non-competition agreements are enforced only to the extent reasonable and no broader than necessary to protect the business interest at issue.", "verbatimQuote": "We have long recognized that non-competition agreements are contrary to public policy and will be enforced only to the extent that they are reasonable and sweep no wider than necessary to protect the business interests in issue.", "date": "1983-01-04", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-lord-no-wider-than-necessary" }, { "id": "sisters-duration-geography-interest", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Sisters of Charity Health System, Inc. v. Farrago", "citation": "Sisters of Charity Health Sys., Inc. v. Farrago, 2011 ME 62, ¶ 10, 21 A.3d 110.", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2444708/sisters-of-charity-health-system-inc-v-farrago/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2444708/sisters-of-charity-health-system-inc-v-farrago/#:~:text=Although%20reasonableness%20is%20a%20question,the%20interest%20to%20be%20protected.", "proposition": "Sisters of Charity supports the fact-intensive Maine reasonableness inquiry based on duration, geographic scope, and the protected interest.", "verbatimQuote": "Although reasonableness is a question of law, the inquiry is fact-intensive, and it depends on the specific circumstances of the case: the covenant’s duration, the scope of the specified geographic area, and the nature of the interest to be protected.", "date": "2011-05-26", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-sisters-duration-geography-interest" } ] }, { "slug": "protected-workers", "label": "Which Maine workers cannot be bound by non-competes?", "heading": "Which Maine workers cannot be bound by non-competes?", "answerText": "Maine bars non-competes for employees earning at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level and for non-owner licensed veterinarians in covered veterinary facilities.", "sources": [ { "id": "maine-599a-prohibited-workers", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A — Noncompete agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A(3)(A).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-A.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A supports the prohibition on non-competes for employees earning at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level.", "verbatimQuote": "The employee is earning wages at or below 400% of the federal poverty level; or", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599a-prohibited-workers" }, { "id": "foley-2025-maine-threshold", "authorityType": "law-firm-commentary", "tier": "lawyer-judgment-backed", "title": "Noncompete Agreements: Updated Income Thresholds for 2025", "citation": "Foley & Lardner, Noncompete Agreements: Updated Income Thresholds for 2025 (2025).", "url": "https://www.foley.com/insights/publications/2025/01/noncompete-agreements-updated-income-thresholds-for-2025/", "proposition": "Foley supports the 2025 dollar threshold for Maine's 400 percent federal-poverty-level non-compete wage floor.", "verbatimQuote": "Accordingly, Maine is updating its $60,240 threshold from 2024 to $62,600 in 2025.", "date": "2025-01-01", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-foley-2025-maine-threshold" }, { "id": "maine-599a-veterinarian-prior-agreements", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A — Noncompete agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A(3).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-A.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A supports the special non-enforcement rule for earlier or renewed veterinarian non-competes unless the veterinarian has an ownership interest.", "verbatimQuote": "A court may not enforce a noncompete agreement entered into or renewed with an employee who is a veterinarian licensed under Title 32, chapter 71‑A before the effective date of this paragraph unless the employee is working in a veterinary facility in which the employee has an ownership interest.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599a-veterinarian-prior-agreements" }, { "id": "ebg-ld2200-enacted", "authorityType": "law-firm-commentary", "tier": "lawyer-judgment-backed", "title": "Maine Restricts Noncompetes for Health Care Practitioners", "citation": "Epstein Becker Green, Maine Restricts Noncompetes for Health Care Practitioners (2026).", "url": "https://www.tradesecretsandemployeemobility.com/maine-restricts-noncompetes-for-health-care-practitioners", "proposition": "Epstein Becker Green reports that Maine enacted a health-care-practitioner non-compete restriction (L.D. 2200), signed by Governor Mills on April 15, 2026.", "verbatimQuote": "On April 15, 2026, Governor Janet T. Mills signed into law “An Act Relating to Noncompete Agreements Between Employers and Health Care Practitioners,” L.D. 2200 (the “Amendments”).", "date": "2026-04-20", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-ebg-ld2200-enacted" } ] }, { "slug": "notice-timing", "label": "What notice and timing rules apply to Maine non-competes?", "heading": "What notice and timing rules apply to Maine non-competes?", "answerText": "Maine requires pre-offer disclosure, a copy at least 3 business days before signing, and delayed effectiveness until the later of one year of employment or 6 months after signing, except for allopathic and osteopathic physician agreements.", "sources": [ { "id": "maine-599a-disclosure-notice", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A — Noncompete agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A(4).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-A.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A supports the requirement to notify the employee and provide a copy of the noncompete agreement at least 3 business days before it must be signed.", "verbatimQuote": "An employer shall notify an employee or prospective employee of a noncompete agreement requirement and provide a copy of the noncompete agreement not less than 3 business days before the employer requires the agreement to be signed to allow time for the employee or prospective employee to review the agreement and negotiate the terms of the agreement or employment with the employer if the employee or prospective employee wishes to do so.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599a-disclosure-notice" }, { "id": "maine-599a-delayed-effectiveness", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A — Noncompete agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A(5).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-A.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A supports Maine's delayed-effectiveness rule and the statutory physician exception.", "verbatimQuote": "Except for a noncompete agreement between an employer and an allopathic physician or an osteopathic physician licensed under Title 32, chapter 48 or chapter 36, respectively, the terms of a noncompete agreement do not take effect until after one year of the employee's employment with the employer or a period of 6 months from the date the agreement was signed, whichever is later.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599a-delayed-effectiveness" } ] }, { "slug": "court-narrowing", "label": "Will Maine courts narrow an overbroad non-compete?", "heading": "Will Maine courts narrow or reform an overbroad non-compete?", "answerText": "Often they evaluate the restraint as applied, not only as drafted. Brignull says Maine assesses a non-compete only as the employer sought to apply it.", "sources": [ { "id": "brignull-as-applied-review", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Brignull v. Albert", "citation": "Brignull v. Albert, 666 A.2d 82, 84 (Me. 1995).", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2381411/brignull-v-albert/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2381411/brignull-v-albert/#:~:text=Finally%2C%20because%20the%20reasonableness%20of,been%20enforced%20on%20its%20terms.", "proposition": "Brignull supports Maine's as-applied review of non-compete reasonableness.", "verbatimQuote": "Finally, because the reasonableness of a noncompetition agreement depends on the specific facts of the case, we assess the agreement only as Brignull has sought to apply it and not as it might have been enforced on its terms.", "date": "1995-10-17", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-brignull-as-applied-review" }, { "id": "lord-specificity-goodwill-restraint", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Lord v. Lord", "citation": "Lord v. Lord, 454 A.2d 830, 835 (Me. 1983).", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2367150/lord-v-lord/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2367150/lord-v-lord/#:~:text=Upon%20remand%2C%20on%20the%20basis,the%20value%20of%20the%20asset.", "proposition": "Lord supports requiring specificity about the protected goodwill or business value before imposing a severe non-competition restraint.", "verbatimQuote": "Upon remand, on the basis of the existing record and any further evidence received, the presiding justice should first define the nature and components of the good will included in the determination of value and then proceed to determine the scope of any restraint which may be reasonably necessary to protect the value of the asset.", "date": "1983-01-04", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-lord-specificity-goodwill-restraint" } ] }, { "slug": "employer-no-poach", "label": "Are employer no-poach agreements allowed in Maine?", "heading": "Are employer no-poach or no-hire agreements allowed in Maine?", "answerText": "No. 26 M.R.S. § 599-B prohibits employer-to-employer restrictive employment agreements that restrict one employer from soliciting or hiring another employer's employees or former employees.", "sources": [ { "id": "maine-599b-no-poach-definition-ban", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-B — Restrictive employment agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-B(2).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-B.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-B supports Maine's prohibition on employer-to-employer no-poach or no-hire agreements.", "verbatimQuote": "An employer may not: A. Enter into a restrictive employment agreement", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599b-no-poach-definition-ban" }, { "id": "maine-599b-penalty-enforcement", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-B — Restrictive employment agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-B(3).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-B.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-B supports the civil penalty and Department of Labor enforcement rule for prohibited restrictive employment agreements.", "verbatimQuote": "An employer that violates subsection 2 commits a civil violation for which a fine of not less than $5,000 may be adjudged. The Department of Labor is responsible for enforcement of this section.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599b-penalty-enforcement" } ] }, { "slug": "alternatives", "label": "Are non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements safer alternatives in Maine?", "heading": "Are non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements safer alternatives in Maine?", "answerText": "Often yes. Section 599-A itself points to nonsolicitation, nondisclosure, and confidentiality agreements as alternatives, and a non-compete may be presumed necessary only when those alternatives cannot adequately protect the interest.", "sources": [ { "id": "maine-599a-alternative-covenants", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A — Noncompete agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A(2).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-A.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A supports using nonsolicitation, nondisclosure, and confidentiality agreements as alternative restrictive covenants before relying on a non-compete.", "verbatimQuote": "A noncompete agreement may be presumed necessary if the legitimate business interest cannot be adequately protected through an alternative restrictive covenant, including but not limited to a nonsolicitation agreement or a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599a-alternative-covenants" }, { "id": "bernier-confidential-not-general-skill", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Bernier v. Merrill Air Engineers", "citation": "Bernier v. Merrill Air Eng'rs, 2001 ME 17, ¶ 18, 770 A.2d 97.", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2361851/bernier-v-merrill-air-engineers/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2361851/bernier-v-merrill-air-engineers/#:~:text=The%20nondisclosure%20clause%20does%20not,during%20his%20employment%20with%20Merrill.", "proposition": "Bernier supports enforcing confidentiality covenants for specialized proprietary information while preserving the employee's ability to use general skill and knowledge.", "verbatimQuote": "The nondisclosure clause does not prohibit Bernier from using the general skill and knowledge he acquired during his employment with Merrill.", "date": "2001-01-24", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-bernier-confidential-not-general-skill" }, { "id": "maine-599c-discrimination-reporting", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-C — Nondisclosure agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-C(2).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-C.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-C supports Maine's limits on employment agreements that waive or limit rights to report or discuss unlawful employment discrimination.", "verbatimQuote": "An employer may not require an employee, intern or applicant for employment to enter into a contract or agreement that waives or limits any right to report or discuss unlawful employment discrimination, as defined and limited by Title 5, chapter 337, subchapter 3, occurring in the workplace or at work-related events.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599c-discrimination-reporting" }, { "id": "maine-599c-proprietary-info-saved", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-C — Nondisclosure agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-C(4).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-C.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-C supports preserving nondisclosure agreements for proprietary information, trade secrets, and information otherwise confidential by law.", "verbatimQuote": "Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the use of nondisclosure agreements to protect the confidentiality of proprietary information, trade secrets or information that is otherwise confidential by law, rule or regulation.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599c-proprietary-info-saved" } ] }, { "slug": "sale-of-business", "label": "How are sale-of-business covenants treated?", "heading": "How does Maine treat sale-of-business non-compete covenants?", "answerText": "Maine's noncompete statute reaches only an employee or prospective employee, so a covenant given by the seller of a business falls outside it and remains governed by common-law reasonableness.", "sources": [ { "id": "me-sob-599a", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A — Noncompete agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A(1)(B).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-A.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A defines a noncompete agreement solely by reference to an employee or prospective employee, so the statute reaches only the employment relationship and not a covenant given by the seller of a business.", "verbatimQuote": "“Noncompete agreement” means a contract or contract provision that prohibits an employee or prospective employee from working in the same or a similar profession or in a specified geographic area for a certain period of time following termination of employment.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-me-sob-599a" }, { "id": "me-sob-lord", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Lord v. Lord", "citation": "Lord v. Lord, 454 A.2d 830, 834 (Me. 1983).", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2367150/lord-v-lord/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2367150/lord-v-lord/#:~:text=We%20have%20long%20recognized%20that,the%20business%20interests%20in%20issue.", "proposition": "Lord supports Maine's common-law rule that non-competition agreements are enforced only to the extent reasonable and no broader than necessary to protect the business interest at issue.", "verbatimQuote": "We have long recognized that non-competition agreements are contrary to public policy and will be enforced only to the extent that they are reasonable and sweep no wider than necessary to protect the business interests in issue.", "date": "1983-01-04", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-me-sob-lord" } ] }, { "slug": "trade-secrets", "label": "What trade-secret remedies are available in Maine?", "heading": "What trade-secret remedies are available in Maine?", "answerText": "Maine trade-secret law gives employers remedies that can substitute for or sit beside narrow restrictive covenants, including injunctions, damages, exemplary damages, and attorney-fee awards.", "sources": [ { "id": "maine-utsa-trade-secret-definition", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "10 M.R.S. § 1542 — Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Definitions)", "citation": "10 M.R.S. § 1542(4).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/10/title10sec1542.html", "proposition": "10 M.R.S. § 1542 supports Maine's statutory trade-secret definition.", "verbatimQuote": "\"Trade secret\" means information, including, but not limited to, a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique or process, that:", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-utsa-trade-secret-definition" }, { "id": "maine-utsa-injunctions", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "10 M.R.S. § 1543 — Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Injunctive relief)", "citation": "10 M.R.S. § 1543(1).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/10/title10sec1543.html", "proposition": "10 M.R.S. § 1543 supports injunctive relief for actual or threatened trade-secret misappropriation.", "verbatimQuote": "Actual or threatened misappropriation may be restrained or enjoined.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-utsa-injunctions" }, { "id": "maine-utsa-damages", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "10 M.R.S. § 1544 — Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Damages)", "citation": "10 M.R.S. § 1544(1).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/10/title10sec1544.html", "proposition": "10 M.R.S. § 1544 supports actual-loss and unjust-enrichment damages plus a reasonable-royalty alternative measure, and separately (in subsection 2) exemplary damages for willful and malicious misappropriation.", "verbatimQuote": "Damages may include both the actual loss caused by misappropriation and the unjust enrichment caused by misappropriation that is not taken into account in computing actual loss. In lieu of damages measured by any other methods, the damages caused by misappropriation may be measured by imposition of liability for a reasonable royalty for a misappropriator's unauthorized disclosure or use of a trade secret.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-utsa-damages" }, { "id": "maine-utsa-fees", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "10 M.R.S. § 1545 — Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Attorney's fees)", "citation": "10 M.R.S. § 1545.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/10/title10sec1545.html", "proposition": "10 M.R.S. § 1545 supports attorney-fee awards for bad-faith trade-secret claims or motions and for willful and malicious misappropriation.", "verbatimQuote": "If a claim of misappropriation is made in bad faith, a motion to terminate an injunction is made or resisted in bad faith or willful and malicious misappropriation exists, the court may award reasonable attorneys fees to the prevailing party.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-utsa-fees" } ] }, { "slug": "recent-developments", "label": "What recent Maine non-compete developments should employers track?", "heading": "What recent Maine non-compete developments should employers track?", "answerText": "Track three moving points: the annually indexed wage threshold, the 2024 veto of L.D. 1496, and the newly enacted L.D. 2200 health-care-practitioner restriction effective July 13, 2026.", "sources": [ { "id": "foley-2025-threshold-recent", "authorityType": "law-firm-commentary", "tier": "lawyer-judgment-backed", "title": "Noncompete Agreements: Updated Income Thresholds for 2025", "citation": "Foley & Lardner, Noncompete Agreements: Updated Income Thresholds for 2025 (2025).", "url": "https://www.foley.com/insights/publications/2025/01/noncompete-agreements-updated-income-thresholds-for-2025/", "proposition": "Foley supports that Maine's non-compete wage threshold is indexed and increases each year, making it a recurring item to re-check.", "verbatimQuote": "Specifically, thresholds in Washington, Colorado, Maine, Rhode Island, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. increase each year.", "date": "2025-01-01", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-foley-2025-threshold-recent" }, { "id": "bernstein-ld1496-veto-sustained", "authorityType": "law-firm-commentary", "tier": "lawyer-judgment-backed", "title": "Governor Mills Vetoes L.D. 1496: What Maine Employers Need to Know", "citation": "Bernstein Shur, Governor Mills Vetoes L.D. 1496: What Maine Employers Need to Know (2024).", "url": "https://www.bernsteinshur.com/insights-events/governor-mills-vetoes-l-d-1496-an-act-to-prohibit-noncompete-clauses-what-maine-employers-need-to-know/", "proposition": "Bernstein Shur supports the 2024 L.D. 1496 veto status and the point that Maine employers continued to reference L.D. 733 after the veto was sustained.", "verbatimQuote": "Because L.D. 1496 was vetoed and that veto was sustained by the Maine State Legislature, Maine employers should continue to reference L.D. 733 when drafting and negotiating noncompete agreements.", "date": "2024-04-10", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-bernstein-ld1496-veto-sustained" }, { "id": "ebg-ld2200-effective", "authorityType": "law-firm-commentary", "tier": "lawyer-judgment-backed", "title": "Maine Restricts Noncompetes for Health Care Practitioners", "citation": "Epstein Becker Green, Maine Restricts Noncompetes for Health Care Practitioners (2026).", "url": "https://www.tradesecretsandemployeemobility.com/maine-restricts-noncompetes-for-health-care-practitioners", "proposition": "Epstein Becker Green supports the L.D. 2200 effective date of July 13, 2026 and its application to agreements entered into or renewed on or after that date.", "verbatimQuote": "The Amendments apply to all noncompete agreements entered into, or renewed on or after, the Amendments’ effective date of July 13, 2026 (the “Effective Date”).", "date": "2026-04-20", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-ebg-ld2200-effective" }, { "id": "maine-599a-current-prohibited-workers", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A — Noncompete agreements", "citation": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A(3)(A).", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec599-A.html", "proposition": "26 M.R.S. § 599-A's current codified prohibited-worker text identifies the 400% federal-poverty-level wage floor.", "verbatimQuote": "The employee is earning wages at or below 400% of the federal poverty level; or", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/maine#src-maine-599a-current-prohibited-workers" } ] } ] } }