As an employer, you want to ensure your employees are able to perform their job duties in a safe work environment. While it may be easier to recognize fall hazards or faulty equipment, employers should also safeguard against another risk: sexual harassment. Over 5,500 claims of sexual harassment were filed with the EEOC in 2021, which doesn’t account for many other employees that felt forced to leave their job or, worse, struggled with harassing behavior in silence.

To decrease the chances of harassing behavior taking place in your business and avoid harassment claims, implementing a non-harassment policy and providing training on preventing harassment are some of the best ways to do so. Because of this, some states have made it a mandatory requirement to provide sexual harassment training. Below are the current states and cities that require training.

California

Employers with five or more employees companywide (including temporary/seasonal workers, part-time employees, employees hired through a staffing agency, and independent contractors) are required to provide at least two hours of sexual harassment training to all supervisor-level employees and at least one hour of training to all other employees within six months of hire or promotion to a supervisory-level position. All employees must then be retrained every two years.

Connecticut

All employers must provide sexual harassment training to all supervisor-level employees and employers with three or more employees must provide training to all employees. Training must be at least two hours in length and be provided within six months of hire or promotion to a supervisory-level position. Employees must also be provided with a copy of the Connecticut poster on the illegality of sexual harassment within three months of hire. Retraining must be provided every 10 years thereafter, but it is recommended by the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities to provide training every three years.

Link to Connecticut training information

Delaware

Employers with 50 or more employees in Delaware must provide sexual harassment training within one year of their start date and then retrain every two years. Employers with four or more employees must provide the Delaware Sexual Harassment Notice to all employees.

Link to Delaware training information

District of Columbia

Employers with tipped employees must provide sexual harassment training to all employees within 90 days of their start date. Managers, owners, or operators of covered businesses must attend in-person training at least once every two years.

Link to District of Columbia training information

Illinois

All private employers with employees working in Illinois must provide sexual harassment prevention training at least once a year to all employees. This includes employees that are considered short-term, seasonal, part-time, and interns; employers are not required to train independent contractors, but the Illinois Department of Human Rights strongly advises to do so if they are working on-site at an employer’s workplace or interact with the employer’s staff. Additionally, every restaurant and bar operating in Illinois must provide a sexual harassment policy in writing to all employees within the first calendar week of employment and it must be available in English and Spanish.

Link to Illinois training information

Chicago employers, in addition to the state requirements, must ensure sexual harassment training is at least one hour in length and must also provide one hour of bystander training and one additional hour of sexual harassment prevention training for supervisors and managers.

Link to Chicago training information

Maine

Employers with 15 or more employees must provide sexual harassment training to all employees within one year of their start date. Employees at the supervisory level or higher must receive additional training within one year of obtaining their position, which would include the specific responsibilities of supervisory and managerial employees and methods to use to ensure appropriate action is taken.

Link to Maine training information

New York

All New York employers must provide sexual harassment training annually to all employees. Employers must also provide to all employees a written notice at hire and at every annual training that contains the employer’s sexual harassment prevention policy and information presented at the employer’s training program; this notice must be in English and in the language identified by each employee as their primary language.

Link to New York training information

New York City employers, in addition to the state requirements, must ensure training is provided within 90 days of an employee’s hire if they have 15 or more employees.

Link to New York City training information

Washington

Washington state employers must provide sexual harassment training within one year of hire to employees (including managers and supervisors) if the employer is considered a hotel, motel, retail, or security guard entity or property services contractor. Specifically, janitors, security guards, hotel/motel housekeepers, or room service attendants who spend more of their working hours alone or whose primary responsibility involves working without another coworker present must receive training and must be provided with a panic button, which the employee may summon immediate assistance from another employee, security guard, or employer representative. Employers must also provide a list of resources to employees, including contact information for the EEOC, the Washington State Human Rights Commission, and local advocacy groups focused on preventing sexual harassment and assault.

Link to Washington training information

If you have questions about sexual harassment training, reach out to your HR Consultant as needed.

Read about creating a learning culture in our recent blog here.