Last month, I posted about New York State’s recently enacted law mandating all New York State employers adopt Sexual Harassment Policies and train all employees annually. See “Time to Catch the “Train” – The New York Gender-Based Harassment Train.” The Department of Labor published for public comment its August 23, 2018 draft sexual harassment training program, checklist of minimum standards for compliant sexual-harassment policies, and list of FAQs. Those draft materials stated that all employees in New York State would have to be trained by January 1, 2019, a daunting task.
Following review of public comments, however, the Department of Labor published its final versions of these materials on October 1. Notably, one significant change moved the deadline for training employees from January 1 to October 9, 2019, a much-welcomed extension. You may access the final materials here.
Manufacturers with employees working in New York State must still distribute to all employees working in New York a compliant sexual harassment policy by October 9, 2018 (i.e., next Tuesday). Training must be completed by next October, however.
For manufacturers with employees working in New York City, a separate New York City law will require additional annual sexual harassment training. New York City is expected to publish its model training program and policy by April 1. While most expect the training program to be similar to New York State’s program, there likely will be differences because the standards set by those two laws are different.
Manufacturers with New York City employees may wish to consider postponing training until after April 1, 2019 and then combining the two training programs into one session (to reduce lost work-time).
Many still believe it prudent for manufacturers with workers in New York State or City, and those seeking to bid on state contracts, to confer with their human resources partners and/or legal counsel to make sure they comply with these deadlines.