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Stop Sexual Harassment in Maine with Virtual Employee Training

Maine’s Sex Discrimination Cases Are on the Rise

The Maine Human Rights Commission reported that between fiscal years 2018 and 2019, sex discrimination complaints rose 35%, to their highest point in the last decade. Even worse, that number is probably artificially low, since sexual harassment, which is included in the definition of sex discrimination, often goes unreported. In fact, a recent survey reported that roughly half of the Maine employees surveyed had been subject to sexual harassment and 60% of those said they had not reported it. 

Maine has long recognized the problem and was the first state to require sexual harassment training in the workplace. Since 1991, employers with 15 or more workers must provide training within one year of the employee’s hire date, and supervisors must receive training within one year of being promoted to a supervisory position.

Maine Training Compliance Requirements

Maine’s law does not specify how often training must be repeated or the duration of each training, but it does require that training includes:

  • The illegality of sexual harassment
  • The definition of sexual harassment under state and federal laws and federal regulations
  • A description of sexual harassment, utilizing examples
  • The internal complaint process available to the employee
  • The legal recourse and complaint process available through the commission
  • The protection against retaliation

Though the law does not specifically require interactive training, the Maine Human Rights Commission has noted that interactive training is considered most effective, and that training should allow employees to ask questions and receive answers.


Alterity’s Respectful Workplace interactive virtual training satisfies all of the requirements of the State of Maine’s Title 26: LABOR AND INDUSTRY, Chapter 7: EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES, Subchapter 4-B: SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICIES of Maine Revised Statutes §807, as well as those required by:

  • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act
  • The Equal Pay Act
  • Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)
  • The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Contact Alterity about Sexual Harassment Training

Alterity’s Respectful Workplace Virtual Training: Not just Compliance, But Prevention

We design our online training with the goal of actively creating a respectful workplace free of sexual harassment. We accomplish this with a blended learning environment that reaches people with disparate learning styles, that includes interactive scenario-based examples and exercises, that emphasizes the facts and methods of prevention everyone should know, and that provides participants with open-ended communication where they can ask questions and receive answers. And of course, we provide trainees with certificates stating that they comply with Maine’s sexual harassment training laws.

We also provide expert support to HR managers: offering assistance completing other compliance requirements, providing them with detailed analytics, and furnishing them with a user-friendly online learning portal that makes managing compliance and reporting simple.