On May 9, 2018, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed several laws addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. The laws, also known as “Stop Sexual Harassment in New York City Act,” amend the New York City Human Rights Law. The New York City Human Rights Law bans employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation on the basis of gender, which includes sexual harassment.
Starting April 1, 2019, employers with 15 or more employees must provide anti-sexual harassment training to all of their New York City employees, including interns, on an annual basis. New hires must receive training within 90 days after the date of initial hire. The New York City Commission on Human Rights will develop an online training module that employers can use to satisfy their training requirements. Employers that choose to use the commission’s online training module must supplement the module with a description of their internal complaint procedures. All employers must keep a record of all training, including a signed employee acknowledgement.
All employers are required to provide written notice of employees’ rights under the Act both in the form of a displayed poster and an information sheet distributed to individual employees at the time of hire. The commission has recently released the Stop Sexual Harassment Act poster, which satisfies the poster requirement. The poster, which must be in both English and Spanish, includes:
- an explanation of sexual harassment as a form of unlawful discrimination under local;
- a statement that sexual harassment is a form of unlawful discrimination under federal and state law;
- a description of what sexual harassment is;
- the internal complaint process available to employees to address sexual harassment claims;
- the complaint process available through, and directions on how to contact, the commission, the state division of human rights, and the United States equal employment opportunity commission; and
- prohibition against retaliation.
Employers can order posters here, or by calling our Compliance Advisors at 1-888-339-1257. Please be aware that the poster must be displayed in the workplace by September 6, 2018.