To prevent acts of workplace violence and promote a respectful and inclusive working environment, various states and localities have established harassment training requirements for employers. The conditions of these statutes vary by jurisdiction, creating distinct requirements regarding training hours, training frequency, and which employees must complete training.
In this article, we’ll outline harassment training requirements by state and provide recommendations to employers in states or localities where employee training is required or strongly recommended.
Do I Need to Provide Harassment Training to My Employees?
Providing sexual harassment training to employees is essential regardless of the specific requirements within the jurisdiction(s) where your organization operations. Both state and federal courts have often ruled against employers in harassment lawsuits even if the employer established anti-harassment policies but failed to offer employee training; this includes states where harassment training is only recommended and not strictly required by state law. Court rulings have also demonstrated the need to train all employees: temporary, full-time, and supervisory.
Of course, to ensure state compliance, employers should be clear about the definition of sexual harassment, aware of the anti-harassment statutes that apply to their locality, and ensure they take necessary steps to meet or exceed these minimum employee training requirements.
Currently, six states – California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Main, and New York – and the District of Columbia have established statutes that require sexual harassment training. In some cases, like New York and Illinois, local statutes extend the requirements of state statutes. For example, in Chicago, employees must complete 1 hour of annual sexual harassment training while supervisors must complete 2 hours of annual training. In addition to these requirements, Chicago uniquely mandates additional training: one hour of bystander intervention training for all employees, including supervisors.
Again, in a number of other states, harassment training is strongly recommended, and in these jurisdictions, state court rulings have favored employers that adopted both company anti-harassment policies and harassment training for all employees. This includes states like Vermont, Rhode Island, Maryland, Tennessee, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, and Hawaii. It’s likely that more states and localities will adopt official statutes over time as workplace health and safety becomes a higher priority across the public and private sectors.
In this section, we will outline all employee harassment training requirements by state, including local statutes within each state, when applicable.
California – California’s statutes mandate two hours of sexual harassment training for supervisors every two years and one hour of sexual harassment training every two years for regular (non-supervisory) employees.
Connecticut – In Connecticut, any employer with more than three employees must provide two hours of harassment training to all employees (including supervisors) within six months of hiring.
Delaware – If you are an employer in Delaware with 50 or more employees, you are required to provide harassment training to all employees within 12 months of hiring and every two years following an employee’s first training.
District of Columbia (D.C.) – Unique to D.C., nearly all tipped employees must complete sexual harassment training within 90 days of hiring while non-tipped and current employees must receive training within two years of their hiring date. Owners, business operators, and managers must complete in-person sexual harassment training every two years to remain compliant.
Illinois – In Illinois, employers with 15 or more employees must develop and offer sexual harassment training that meets or exceeds the state’s Department of Human Rights’ standards, which requires annual sexual harassment training for all employees.
In Chicago, training requirements extend beyond Illinois state requirements, particularly for supervisors – mandating one additional hour of bystander intervention training and two total hours of annual training for supervisors.
Maine – Maine was one of the first states to mandate harassment training for any employer with 15 or more employees. To implement training, employers must either use resources provided by the Maine Department of Labor or a third-party training service that meets or exceeds Maine Department of Labor requirements. All employees must complete training within one year of hiring.
New York – Since 2019, New York has required that all employers (regardless of the number of employees) provide sexual harassment training for all employees on an annual basis. Training must include a clear explanation of sexual harassment, contextualized examples of harassing conduct, and resources/steps for reporting sexual harassment in the workplace.
Like Chicago, New York City expands upon state requirements in its local statutes. In New York City, employers are required to train all employees within 90 days of hiring, and the training must additionally cover bystander intervention and the responsibilities of managers and supervisors concerning sexual harassment policy and reporting.
Whether an employer is strictly required by local, state, or federal law, they should implement sexual harassment training to ensure a safe and respectful workplace for employees and clients. Offering sexual harassment training ensures legal compliance, offers protection against punitive damages in the event of a lawsuit, and strengthens company values and culture in the process.
Don't let compliance confusion hinder your commitment to a safe and harassment-free workplace. Contact The Orsus Group for tailored HR services that ensure you meet all state-specific harassment training requirements.
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