Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Not Only Good for Workplace Culture; It’s Mandated
Sexual harassment affects more than just the employees involved — it affects your entire organization. Besides causing emotional stress, decreased productivity and performance, lawsuits resulting from sexual harassment are stressful and expensive.
In 2020, organizations should keep workplace harassment training legislation on their radar. Six states now require employers to train their workforce on sexual harassment prevention and it’s only matter of time before other states follow. Each law varies in the amount, type and format of training it requires, but they all work toward combating the same problem. For many organizations, these new state laws mean revamping policies, procedures and training to ensure compliance.
Here’s an overview of the six states that require sexual harassment prevention training for employees:
California
California continues to lead the charge on workplace harassment training legislation. Employers with five or more workers need to provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees by January 1, 2021, and then every two years.
For employers with five or more employees:
Supervisory employees must complete at least two hours of classroom or other interactive training and education on sexual harassment prevention.
New supervisors must be trained within six months of assuming a supervisory position.
Nonsupervisory employees must complete at least one hour of classroom or interactive training and education and new nonsupervisory employees must be trained within six months.
Temporary and seasonal employees – or any employee hired to work less than 6 months – must also be trained within 30 calendar days after their hire date or within 100 hours worked, whichever comes first.
Employees and supervisors who were trained in 2019 must be retrained in two years.
Employers must keep records of the training for a minimum of two years.
Connecticut
Since October 1, 2019, employers with three or more employees now must provide two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to all employees. For existing employees, this training must be provided by October 1, 2020. All employees hired on or after October 1, 2020 must receive the training within six months of hire.
All Connecticut employers must train supervisors on sexual harassment prevention by
October 1, 2020, or within six months of an employee assuming a supervisory role.
Organizations with three or more employees must provide two hours of training to all employees, not just supervisors. The previous requirement only applied to employers with 50 or more employees, and mandated that only supervisors be trained.
Existing employees must be trained by October 1, 2020, and then be retrained at least every 10 years.
Delaware
Since January 1, 2019, all employers with 50 or more employees must provide sexual harassment prevention training for all employees and supervisors (excluding applicants and independent contractors). The training must be interactive and conducted for new employees within one year of the commencement of their employment.
Existing employees must receive training within one year of the effective date of the statue (January 1, 2020).
New supervisors must receive additional interactive training within one year of the commencement of their supervisory role; existing supervisors must receive training by January 1, 2020.
Supplemental training must cover the specific responsibilities of a supervisor in preventing and correcting sexual harassment as well as the legal prohibition against retaliation. These employee and supervisor training programs must be repeated every two years.
Illinois
The Workplace Transparency Act, SB75, went into effect on January 1, 2020. Under the new law the program must include:
An explanation of sexual harassment.
Examples of conduct that constitutes unlawful sexual harassment.
A summary of federal and state statutory provisions, including remedies available to victims of sexual harassment.
A summary of the responsibilities of employers for prevention, investigation, and corrective measures of sexual harassment.
Additionally, owners of restaurants and bars are now required to provide industry-specific
sexual harassment prevention training annually to all employees, available in both English and Spanish.
New York
Since October 2019, all New York employers must now provide annual sexual harassment
training to all employees and supervisors − including part-time, seasonal and temporary
workers, regardless of their immigration status. Another significant change in 2019, employees
are no longer required to prove that alleged sexual harassment was “severe or pervasive” in
order to hold perpetrators and employers accountable. New York requires that:
New employees be trained as soon as possible after their start date.
All workers receive training, regardless of immigration status, including part-time, temporary and seasonal workers.
Training is interactive, requiring some level of employee participation and may be web-based.
Employers should provide training in the language spoken by their employees.
Employers are encouraged (not required) to keep a copy of training records and a signed acknowledgment that employees have read the organization’s sexual harassment prevention policy.
New York City
NY state’s anti-harassment laws apply to all New York employers, however, as of December 31, 2019, New York City organizations with 15 or more employees have additional requirements under the Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act.
For employers with 15 or more employees, NYC requires that:
Training cover retaliation and bystander intervention.
Training include information on the complaint process available through the NYC Commission on Human Rights, the New York State Division of Human Rights and the EEOC.
Training records be kept for a minimum of three years.
Maine
All employers with 15 or more employees must train all employees about sexual harassment within a year of the beginning of their employment.
Supervisors and managers must receive additional training within one year of assuming their positions.
Providing effective training, shifting behavior and standing up and reporting against misconduct are all important steps to promote a respectful, inclusive workplace culture and reduces the risk of costly harassment claims and reputational damage.
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MEET THE AUTHOR
Kristin Hassan is the Chief Human Resources Officer of ETHIX360. Kristin spent six years as the New York City SHRM’s executive director and is a board member of the Human Resources Management Association - Princeton SHRM Chapter and a member of the Peer 150 HR Group.
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