The New York Department of Labor announced that it will release an updated Sexual Harassment Prevention Model Policy following a comprehensive effort to gather and review recommendations from stakeholders, including businesses around the State. Also according to the State, key updates to the new policy include:
- More plain language, less legal jargon to make it easier to understand
- Updates to address sexual harassment of remote workers
- Updates to define different gender identities and emphasizing that gender discrimination is sexual harassment
- Additional examples of sexual harassment to account for a broader array of work experiences (i.e., service industries, remote work)
Following the release of the policy, the DOL will begin a comment period.
New York employers will be required to adopt the new model policy once it is issued, and substitute it for the current policy they are utilizing OR update their currently policy to incorporate the newly required language.
We will monitor this issue and, once the new policy language is issued, work with clients to update their harassment policies and training program to correspond to the new policy requirements.