NY Agencies Publish Draft Sexual Harassment Model Policy, Complaint Form, and Training

On August 23, 2018, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order that contains a model policy, model complaint form, and model training in accordance with the state’s new sexual harassment law. As we reported in April and August of this year, New York State recently passed a number of sexual harassment-related initiatives in the state’s 2018-2019 budget. For example, New York State now requires employers to provide all employees with annual anti-sexual harassment and discrimination training. The law also requires employers to promulgate written anti-sexual harassment policies to employees. While the law indicated an effective date of October 9, 2018 for these components of the law, it did not contain specific examples of training programs or policies that employers will be required to adopt. Instead, the law indicated that the Department of Labor “shall consult with the Division of Human Rights to create and publish” the model training and model policy. The executive order provides these examples, meaning the October 9, 2018 compliance date stands.