New York Sexual Harassment Laws

New York has consistently been one of the leading states in the fight against sexual harassment in the workplace. In 2018, New York State strengthened its efforts to end workplace harassment by passing several key measures. New York State law now includes the following:

• All employers in the state of New York, regardless of size, must establish a sexual harassment prevention policy and to distribute it to employees. An employer's harassment prevention policy must include, among other things:
  • examples of behaviors that constitute sexual harassment;
  • an explanation of remedies available to those who have been the target of harassment;
  • a complaint form;
  • a procedure for investigating harassment complaints; and
  • a clear prohibition on acts of retaliation against those who have filed a complaint.
• All employers in the state of New York, regardless of size, must provide sexual harassment training, such as the course that we offer, to employees. Training must include, among other things:
  • an explanation of sexual harassment;
  • examples of behaviors that constitute sexual harassment;
  • an explanation of remedies available to those who have been the target of harassment;
  • information describing an employee's rights for resolving situations involving sexual harassment; and
  • information detailing additional responsibilities of supervisors.
• A model complaint form is now available for employees to use when they are reporting sexual harassment.
• Non-employees, such as independent contractors, are now also protected from sexual harassment.
• Employers cannot force employees to submit sexual harassment claims to arbitration.*Unlike federal law, New York State does not cap the total award of compensatory and punitive damages that an employee can receive for a court finding in that employee's favor.

More information about sexual harassment prevention in the state of New York can be found here:

https://www.ny.gov/combating-sexual-harassment-workplace/employers#model-sexual-harassment-policy

To help employers in the state of New York to develop and implement effective sexual harassment prevention policies, the state has provide the following toolkit:

https://www.ny.gov/sites/ny.gov/files/atoms/files/SexualHarassmentPreventionToolkitforEmployers.pdf

It is also important to know that New York City has passed its own sexual harassment prevention law. The law is entitled the New York City Stop Sexual Harassment Act and is meant to protect any employee who works in the city. We discuss the New York City law in a separate article; more information is available at:

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/cchr/law/stop-sexual-harassment-act.page