Earlier this year, we wrote about the sweeping legislative changes enacted by New York State and New York City aimed at preventing workplace sexual harassment in the wake of #MeToo.
Now, the NYC Commission on Human Rights has released guidance on the new city law, including its notice of employee rights and employee fact sheet. Beginning on September 6, 2018, all NYC employers will be required to:
- Post the notice of employee rights in a conspicuous location in their workplace. The notice must be posted in English and Spanish (the Spanish version has not yet been released, but we will update this site as the Commission makes additional versions of the notice available); and
- Distribute the employee fact sheet to all new hires. Unlike the notice of rights, there is no requirement to distribute the fact sheet in any language other than English, but it will be made available in Spanish and other languages the Commission deems appropriate.
Both the notice and the fact sheet explain that sexual harassment and retaliation are prohibited under the NYC Human Rights Law, provide examples of harassment, and include contact information for reporting complaints to the NYC Commission on Human Rights, the New York State Division of Human Rights, and the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission.
In addition to ensuring compliance with the above requirements, we remind all New York State employers that by October 9, 2018, they must have updated sexual harassment policies in place. On that same date, the first annual sexual harassment prevention training cycle will commence and NYS employers will have until October 8, 2019 to conduct that training. Covered NYC employers have additional training requirements. Once again, you can read more about it in our comprehensive post on this issue here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.