First Steps Required By Oct 9, 2018 – Read on for a Solution!

Recently, the New York State Department of Labor published final guidance on the State’s mandated workplace harassment prevention requirements and pushed back the date by which all existing employees must be trained to October 9, 2019. The final guidance also states that employers must have a compliant harassment prevention policy in place by Tuesday, October 9, 2018.

As recently reported, a law was passed earlier this year that requires all employers in New York State to adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy and begin conducting annual harassment prevention training for all of their employees. The policy to be adopted and the training to be conducted must “meet or exceed” the specific standards and guidelines set forth in guidance developed by the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) and Division of Human Rights (DHR). The draft guidance was published in late August and the final version was posted October 2 on the State’s website.

Regarding the compliance harassment prevention policy, employers can either adopt the state’s model policy or use a checklist provided to ensure its existing policy meets or exceeds the required minimum standards. Employers are required to distribute the compliant policy to employees by October 9, 2018. Click here to view NYS’s model policy and complaint form, as well as the checklist of what needs to be included. If you need assistance meeting this policy requirement, please contact tim@printcommunications.org.

The final guidance differs from the draft guidance in some important ways. The draft guidance stated that employers were required to train all of their employees by January 1, 2019. Moreover, any new hires had to be trained within 30 calendar days of their start date. The final guidance states that:

• All employees must complete initial sexual harassment prevention training before October 9, 2019.  
• All employees must complete an additional training at least once per year. This may be based on calendar year, anniversary of each employee’s start date or any other date the employer chooses.
• All new employees should complete sexual harassment prevention training as quickly as possible.

Employers will have some time to begin the task of ensuring that all its employees receive training that meets or exceeds the final guidance. PIA’s Employment Law partner, Ferrara Fiorenza, through Delacroix Consulting (their HR consulting division), has developed training options that will greatly assist in your compliance strategy. These include: in-person training [contact Mike Dodd at (315) 437-7600]; and, providing a web-based video training module for immediate compliance and follow-up training needs.

The Ferrara Fiorenza NYS Mandatory Workplace Harassment Prevention Training module meets the new requirements, as well as those issued by the Federal EEOC. The program’s compliance approach addresses ways to recognize and address the workplace cultural shift necessary to bring about true change.

The web-based compliance tool is priced at $350, but PIA members receive the substantially discounted rate of $300. Companies purchasing this product will have unlimited rights to utilize the training module which will allow users unlimited flexibility to train existing and new employees into the future. For more detail and to order, click here or contact PIA at (716) 691-3211.

Tim Freeman, President
Print & Graphic Communications Association
(800) 777-4742 | (716) 691-3211