New York State Law: Combatting Workplace Sexual Harassment
New York State Law: Combatting Workplace Sexual Harassment
The State of New York has issued additional guidance regarding mandated Sexual Harassment training for all employers in NY. As you learned in my previous email, the law requires all employers to create and publish a Sexual Harassment Policy and Complaint Form, as well as introduce annual employee training. Luckily, the NY Division of Human Rights has updated their initial guidelines and polices so that the templates are available for our use.
The main website contains information for the Employer, your Employees, and includes a Frequently Asked Questions page.
Visiting the Employer section will provide you with the information you need to inform and train your employees, including updated training manuals, power point slides, and case studies for discussion. Finalized materials will be translated into Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Bengali, Russian, Italian, Polish and Haitian-Creole as quickly as possible and available on the website.
If you decide not to use the materials provided by New York State, your training must:
- be interactive,
- include an explanation of sexual harassment consistent with guidance issued by the Department of Labor in consultation with the Division of Human Rights,
- include examples of conduct that would constitute unlawful sexual harassment,
- include information concerning the federal and state statutory provisions concerning sexual harassment and remedies available to victims of sexual harassment,
- include information concerning employees’ rights of redress and all available forums for adjudicating complaints,
- include information addressing conduct by supervisors and any additional responsibilities for such supervisors.
Each employee must receive training on an annual basis, starting October 9, 2018.
Additionally, noted on their website: “the State will offer workshops and training, which will be announced on the website.” So stay tuned!
If your church is located in New York City, please be advised that the city has its own regulations, which you can view here: NYC Human Rights Division
I will continue to update and contact you as new information becomes available.
Regards,
Sally
