On Wednesday, May 9, 2018, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law the Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act (the “Act”), which we summarized in a previous post. In pertinent part, the Act provides as follows:
- Starting immediately, the statute of limitations to filing a gender-based harassment claim with the New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) is extended from one year to three years;
- Starting immediately, all employers, regardless of size, will be subject to the NYCHRL prohibition on gender-based harassment;
- Starting immediately, sexual harassment is considered a form of discrimination under the NYCHRL;
- Starting September 6, 2018, all employers must display the NYCCHR’s new anti-sexual harassment poster in a conspicuous place in the workplace and provide the information to employees at the time of hire. Please note that the NYCCHR has yet to publish its new anti-sexual harassment poster; and
- Starting April 1, 2019, all private employers with 15 or more employees (including interns) have one year to conduct an anti-sexual harassment training for all employees and interns. Trainings must be conducted annually thereafter. Employers must keep records of such trainings for at least three years.
New York City employers should prepare to alter their practices and policies accordingly.