New York sexual harassment prevention training: state and city rules

At a glance

Who it applies to

Every employer in New York State, whatever its size². New York City adds its own rules for employers with 15 or more employees⁵.

Who is trained

Everyone who works in New York State, even part of the time, including part-time, seasonal and temporary workers².

How often

At least once a year, on a cycle you choose: the calendar year, each person's start-date anniversary or another date^{2, 6}.

New hires

No state deadline; the state encourages training as soon as possible². In New York City, training is required once someone has worked 90 days and more than 80 hours in a year^{5, 6}.

Format

Must be interactive. Online is fine; a video or document with no interaction or feedback isn't enough^{1, 2}.

In writing

At hire and at each yearly training, give every employee your policy and the training information, in English and in their primary language where the state has a template¹.

Records

State: encouraged, not required². New York City: a record of all training with a signed acknowledgment, which can be electronic, kept at least 3 years⁵.

Free training

The state's model policy and training, and New York City's free online course, which meets both state and city rules^{3, 7}.

New York State: who must be trained

Every employer in the state must adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy and train all employees every year, whatever its size, including households that employ one person as a nanny or housekeeper^{1, 2}.

• Employees include all workers, regardless of immigration status: exempt and non-exempt, part-time, seasonal and temporary workers².
• Only people who work or will work in New York State need to be trained, but that includes anyone who works part of their time in the state, even if they're based elsewhere².
• Independent contractors, vendors and consultants aren't employees, so employers don't have to give them the policy².

How often, and new hires

Employees must be trained at least once a year. The cycle can follow the calendar year, the anniversary of each person's start date, or any other date the employer chooses².

There's no deadline for new hires. Because employers can be liable for an employee's actions from the day they're hired, the state encourages training as soon as possible². If a new employee can show they were trained in the same calendar year by a previous employer or a temp agency, you may choose to count that training².

What the training must cover, and what counts as interactive

Employers can use the state's model training or their own program, as long as it equals or exceeds the model's minimum standards¹. The training must be interactive and include¹:

• an explanation of sexual harassment, consistent with the state's guidance;
• examples of conduct that would be unlawful sexual harassment;
• the federal and state laws on sexual harassment and the remedies available to victims;
• employees' rights of redress and all the forums for bringing complaints.

There's no minimum length². Online training is allowed as long as it's interactive, and any one of these meets the minimum: questions at the end of a section that employees must answer correctly, a way to submit questions and get answers promptly, a presenter who asks employees questions, or a feedback survey. Watching a video or reading a document with no feedback or interaction isn't interactive².

A live trainer isn't required, and the state doesn't certify or license training providers². The state's own training video isn't considered interactive on its own³.

What employees must get in writing

At the time of hiring and at every yearly training, give each employee a written notice with your sexual harassment prevention policy and the information presented in your training, in English and in the language they identify as their primary language¹.

• The state publishes the model policy in 16 languages, from Spanish and Chinese to Haitian Creole and Yiddish⁴. If there's no state template in someone's primary language, an English notice meets the rule¹.
• The notice can be printed or sent digitally, for example by email, and must include or link to the policy and training materials².
• The state recommends giving the notice before or at the start of a new employee's first day of work².

Records

State law doesn't require a training record or a signed acknowledgment of the policy. The state encourages employers to keep a signed acknowledgment and a copy of training records anyway², and New York City requires both from employers with 15 or more employees⁵.

New York City's extra rules

Employers with 15 or more employees must train everyone they employ in the city every year, supervisors and managers included⁵. The city's Commission on Human Rights counts independent contractors and staff based outside the city toward the 15, and says employers with one or more domestic workers must train too⁶.

• Who: people who work full-time or part-time, once they've worked 90 days and more than 80 hours in a calendar year. Interns count as employees^{5, 6}.
• What: eight required topics, including the complaint processes at the city, state and federal agencies, retaliation, bystander intervention, and supervisors' and managers' responsibilities⁵.
• Records: keep a record of all training, including a signed acknowledgment, which can be electronic, for at least 3 years, and show it to the Commission on request⁵. The Commission doesn't keep records of who takes its course⁶.
• Already trained: someone trained at another employer within the same cycle doesn't need training again until the next cycle, but you must keep your own records^{5, 6}.
• Poster and fact sheet: every employer must display the city's poster, in English and Spanish at a minimum⁵, and give each new employee the city's fact sheet by the end of their first week of work^{6, 8}.

The Commission's free online course takes about 45 minutes and meets both the state and city requirements, as long as employers also tell employees about their internal complaint process^{6, 7}.

Recent changes

In April 2023 the state finalized an updated model policy, covering remote work, gender discrimination and retaliation, and released a new interactive training video⁹. The law requires the model materials to be reviewed every four years¹.

How MyWorkAcademy helps

MyWorkAcademy runs the part of compliance that usually slips: getting everyone trained on time, again when it's due, and being able to prove it.

• Assign the training to everyone who must take it, with each new hire's deadline counted from their start date (the state asks for as soon as possible).
• Repeat it every year, by a fixed date or on each person's anniversary, with reminders before each deadline and follow-ups after it, so nobody has to chase anyone.
• Put your policy in the course as a document, and end it with a policy acknowledgment that stores the exact wording each person agreed to.
• Keep a locked record of every completion: the person, the exact course version, the date, the score and the acknowledgment. Each certificate carries a link anyone can use to check it.
• Keep records for as long as you need them: completions are permanent in your academy, and you can download them at any time, including after a paid plan ends.

MyWorkAcademy doesn't decide whether a course meets a law's content or length rules. Use your own training, turn your policy into a course, or start from our library, and have your legal adviser confirm the content meets the law.

Questions employers ask

Sources

1. New York Labor Law § 201-g, Prevention of sexual harassmentNew York State Senate
2. Employer guide to sexual harassment prevention (FAQs)New York State
3. Sexual harassment prevention model policy and trainingNew York State
4. Model policy translationsNew York State
5. NYC Administrative Code § 8-107(29) and (30), poster and trainingNYC Commission on Human Rights
6. Sexual harassment training FAQsNYC Commission on Human Rights
7. Free sexual harassment prevention trainingNYC Commission on Human Rights
8. Sexual harassment fact sheets and postersNYC Commission on Human Rights
9. Governor Hochul announces final sexual harassment model policy (April 11, 2023)Office of the Governor of New York