Tag Archives: Sexual Harassment

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New York State Expands Anti-Discrimination Laws

New York State (NYS) has once again increased its protections against workplace discrimination and harassment by updating and expanding its Anti-discrimination laws. Under a new law enacted on Aug. 12, 2019, certain provisions that were added by the state’s 2019 budget in 2018 are expanded so that they cover not only sexual harassment but also all other types of unlawful employment discrimination. New employee notice requirements apply as well.  

The new law also makes all employers in the state (not just those with four or more employees) subject to all provisions of the NYS Human Rights Law (HRL) starting on Feb. 8, 2020. A variety of other changes will make it easier for individuals to hold employers liable for harassment and discrimination. 

Action Steps For Employers

Employers in NYS should become familiar with the new law and begin providing written copies of their sexual harassment prevention policies and training program information in English and each of their employees’ primary languages. Employers should also monitor the NYS Department of Labor’s (DOL) website for model foreign-language notices. 

Identifying Unlawful Workplace Harassment

The new law expands the NYS HRL’s current definition of unlawful workplace harassment effective Oct. 11, 2019. Specifically, harassment will be considered an unlawful discriminatory practice when it subjects an individual to inferior terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of the individual’s opposition to or participation in any proceeding involving unlawful workplace harassment or because of the individual’s membership in one or more of the following protected categories:

  • Age
  • Creed
  • National origin
  • Gender identity/expression
  • Sex
  • Predisposing genetic characteristics
  • Marital status
  • Race
  • Color
  • Sexual orientation
  • Military status
  • Disability
  • Familial status
  • Domestic violence victim status

 

Changes to Recently Added Provisions on Workplace Sexual Harassment

Topic Effective  Law Changes
Written policy on sexual harassment prevention Oct. 9, 2018 Employers must have a written sexual harassment prevention policy and distribute it to employees.
Aug. 12, 2019 Employers must provide the above policy in English and each employee’s primary language and both at hire and again every year when training is provided. 
Training programs on sexual harassment prevention Oct. 9, 2018 Employers must provide annual, interactive sexual harassment training to all employees. 
Aug. 12, 2019 Employers must provide written copies of the training program information in both English and each employee’s primary language and both at hire and again every year. 
Nonemployee claims April 12, 2018 Nonemployees may file workplace sexual harassment claims against an employer.
Oct. 11, 2019 Nonemployees may file any type of unlawful workplace discrimination claim against an employer.
Contractual arbitration requirements July 11, 2018 Employers are prohibited from including mandatory arbitration requirements for sexual harassment claims within any written contract.
Oct. 11, 2019 The above prohibition applies for any type of unlawful workplace discrimination claim.
Nondisclosure conditions in claim settlements July 11, 2018 Employers are prohibited from including nondisclosure conditions in any agreement to resolve a sexual harassment claim, unless the complainant prefers to include one. 
Jan. 1, 2020 The above prohibition applies to agreements to resolve any type of unlawful workplace discrimination claim. Also: 
  • If a complainant prefers to include a nondisclosure condition, it must be written and provided in both English and the complainant’s primary language. 
  • A nondisclosure condition is void if it restricts a complainant from participating in any local, state or federal agency investigation or from filing or disclosing facts necessary to receive public benefits. 

Any agreement that prevents disclosure of facts related to a future discrimination claim must include notice that it does not prohibit the employee or applicant from speaking with law enforcement, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the NYS Department of Human Services (DHS), any local commission on human rights or an attorney.

For more information contact one of our Risk Advisors or call 914-357-8444.

Other

New Sexual Harassment LawsPassed: Great for Employees, but What does it Mean for Employers?

Recently, a new bill was passed that will revolutionize sexual harassment laws in the state of New York. When it comes to sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace, a few main changes have been made. First, there is a lower threshold to report a claim. In the past, an act had to be deemed “severe or pervasive” in order to merit legal action. Now, workers will be able to bring action upon more situations that affect them adversely. In addition, workers will now have more time to report a claim and can report a claim even if they didn’t follow the company policy exactly. 

 

After many years of hard work, legislators in New York are finally starting to reap some rewards when it comes to workplace harassment. This law is great news for employees as there has been a recent societal push to eliminate inappropriate behavior in the workplace. Now, workers will feel more comfortable at work and find it easier to report these occurrences. While this bill aids employees, it will probably hurt employers. The bill will likely result in more expenses for a company in the form of training, settlements, and attorney related costs. 

 

With more ease in reporting workplace harassment incidents, more claims will likely occur. This will result in more satisfied employees but also more costs incurred by companies and an increase in insurance premiums. Therefore, it is imperative for companies to understand these changes in the law and continue to push for a respectful, harassment-free workplace. Without adapting to this new ideal, businesses will lose large amounts of money as a result of the new bill. The passing of this bill is a huge step for New York in terms of a better workplace, but it is also a caution for companies to buckle down on inappropriate workplace behavior or face the consequences. 

 

Make sure your team and company are aware of the new sexual harassment laws and contact one of our RISK ADVISORS today or call 914.357.8444.

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New Bill To Broaden Workplace Harassment Puts Business At Greater Risk

N.Y. State lawmakers are working towards stricter standards on workplace harassment. Under today’s guidelines, judges have determined “pulling a bra strap” or “suggesting a woman gets breast implants” doesn’t qualify as workplace harassment. The proposed revisions to the law suggest any discriminatory conduct that is more than petty or slight inconvenience is harassment.   

If this law passes, Gary Friedman, a partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, said the proposed changes may result in more claims going to trial. “This is going to force employers to raise the level of awareness within their current workplace environments. Further, it’s going to force them to police their culture and work environment more carefully and diligently,” Mr. Freeman said in an interview.

New York City already enforces stricter workplace harassment laws, than the rest of the state. This new bill would change the existing standards to make the policies less precise and more context-specific, state-wide, and would eliminate an employers’ ability to use Faragher-Ellerth Defense. The defense allows employers to avoid being held liable if a complaining employee doesn’t follow set harassment policies set forth in their companies employee handbook. These stricter harassment guidelines throughout New York state should encourage you to look at your own workplace harassment program.

**UPDATE 6/20/2019**

The New Sexual Harassment bills have passed and the bar has been lowered for what sexual harassment is.  This is a great opportunity for employees who feel like their accounts have gone unheard, but what about the employers? 

Employers now have to brace themselves for the upcoming challenges of ensuring their sexual harassment policies are up to date and brace themselves for more cases going to trial. Under the previous laws, judges were able to quickly dismiss harassment claims because the claim did not fall into the “ Severe or pervasive” category of sexual harassment. 

These new bills make it difficult for employers to avoid liability for their employees’ behaviors. They also expand the interval to file complaints about workplace harassment with a state agency. This also ensures that anti-harassment training will be provided in multiple languages.

Employers should arm themselves with a strong sexual harassment policy and supplemental EPLI Insurance which most small to mid-sized businesses overlook. Employers Protective Liability Insurance is also known as EPLI Insurance. With information being ubiquitous, word travels fast. The real hidden utility of EPLI Insurance is the fact that it will pay for your companies defense. It’s easy and free for employees to bring suit against your company. Conversely, the expense to defend your organization starts at six figures. EPLI insurance can help offset that cost as well as pay for the settlement in some cases. These policies call a fraction of what it costs for defense. As your company grows so does the probability of an EPLI lawsuit. CLICK HERE for more information on EPLI Insurance.

 

We offer tools to our Metropolitan Risk Clients, to help create the best training program for you and your employees. Click here to learn more about our harassment training courses.

Make sure your team and company are aware of this new law and contact one of our RISK ADVISORS today or call 914.357.8444.

HR Challenges, Other

Is Sexual Harassment Prevention Policies Mandatory In Any Workplace?

In May of 2018 the City of New York enacted the Stop Sexual Harassment in New York City Act (NYC-SSHA), implementing sexual harassment prevention policies in the workplace. In addition, New York State established their new statewide employer requirement related to workplace sexual harassment in it’s 2019 budget law created April 2018.

Here’s the skinny:

FOR Companies in NYC: 

Effective date Law Affected employers New Provision
April 12, 2018 State All employers in the state of New York •   Subject to sexual harassment claims by nonemployees (previously, only employees could file these claims against an employer).
 

 

 

May 9, 2018

  

 

 

 

 

Local

 Employers with 1-3 employees in NYC •   Subject to gender-based harassment claims (previously, these claims were allowed only against employers with four or more employees in NYC).
 

All NYC employers

 •   Subject to gender-based harassment claims for up to three years after alleged harassing conduct occurs (previously, these claims could be filed for only one year after the alleged harassing conduct).
 

July 8, 2018

 NYC contractors and subcontractors •   Must include their practices, policies and procedures relating to preventing and addressing sexual harassment as part of a report required for certain contracts.
 

 

July 11, 2018

  

 

State

  

 

All employers in the state of New York

 •   Prohibited from including nondisclosure requirements within any settlement or other agreement to resolve a sexual harassment claim, unless the complainant prefers to include one.

•   Prohibited from including mandatory arbitration requirements for sexual harassment claims within any written contract.
 

Sept. 6, 2018

  

Local

  

All NYC employers

 •   Must display a workplace poster about sexual harassment.

•   Must provide a fact sheet about sexual harassment to new hires.
 

 

 

Oct. 9, 2018

  

 

 

State

  

 

 

All employers in the state of New York

 •   Possess a written sexual harassment policy.

•   Distribute the written policy to all employees.

•   Present annual, interactive sexual harassment training to all employees.

•   The policy and program must meet minimum standards provided under models to be established by the New York State Department  of Labor and the New York State Human Rights Division.
 

 

 

April 1, 2019

  

 

 

Local

  

 

Employers with 15 or more employees in NYC

 •   Provide annual, interactive sexual harassment training after 90 days of initial hire to all employees (including interns) who work more than 80 hours in a calendar year.

•   Maintain a record of all trainings for at least three years.

•   May establish own training program that meets minimum legal requirements or use an online interactive training module to be established by the NYC Commission on Human Rights (NYC-CHR).

 

For Companies who have at least (1) New York Employee:

Effective July 11, 2018, the amendments prohibit employers from including any:

  • Nondisclosure requirements within any settlement or other agreement to resolve a sexual harassment claim, unless the complainant prefers to include one; or
  • Mandatory arbitration requirements for sexual harassment claims within any written contract.

Effective Oct. 9, 2018, the amendments require every employer in the state to:

  • Adopt a written sexual harassment prevention policy
  • Distribute the written policy to employees; and deploy a poster in a high trafficked area.
  • By October 9th , 2019 Conduct annual sexual harassment prevention training consistent with Dept of Labor Guidelines for employees annually.
  • Train new employees as soon as practical.

PLEASE NOTE IF YOU ARE A METROPOLITAN RISK CLIENT WE WILL PROVIDE OUR CUSTOMIZABLE TRAINING TOOL FOR YOU & YOUR EMPLOYEES.

CLICK HERE for Additional Information on our Learn Pro Training System.

The amendments also include additional new requirements for employers that submit bids to the state or to any of its departments or agencies. Within each bid submitted on or after Jan. 1, 2019, these employers must certify that they are in compliance with the law’s new written policy and annual training requirements.

 

 

 

Make sure your team and company are aware of this new law and contact one of our RISK ADVISORS today.