Dental Sexual Harassment Training Requirements by State

California

Under SB 778:  

• By January 1, 2021, employers with at least five employees must provide: (1) at least two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to all supervisory employees; and (2) at least one hour of sexual harassment prevention training to all non-supervisory employees in California within six months of their assumption of either a supervisory or non-supervisory position. The training must be provided once every two years.
• Effective January 1, 2020, employers must provide sexual harassment prevention training to temporary or seasonal employees within 30 calendar days after the hire date or within 100 hours worked if the employee will work for less than six months. In the case of a temporary employee employed by a temporary services employer (as defined by the California Labor Code) to perform services for clients, the training must be provided by the temporary services employer, not the client.
• The anti-sexual harassment training may be conducted with other employees, as a group, or individually, and broken up into shorter time segments, as long as the two-hour requirement for supervisory employees and one-hour requirement for non-supervisory employees is reached.
• Employers who provide the required training after January 1, 2019, are not required to provide it again until 2 years thereafter.
• Employers must provide sexual harassment prevention training in a classroom setting, through interactive E-learning, or through a live webinar. E-learning training must provide instructions on how to contact a trainer who can answer questions within two business days.

For more information: https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/ 

Connecticut

In the 2019 legislative session, the Connecticut General Assembly passed and the Governor signed Public Acts 19-16 and 19-93, which together constitute the Time’s Up Act.

Among other changes to the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) process, this legislation establishes new rules and requirements regarding sexual harassment training and education.

These provisions and requirements go into effect April 19, 2021. The language, which applies to employers which have three or more employees, includes:

• Employers will be required to provide to a new employee a copy of information regarding the illegality of sexual harassment and remedies available to victims.
• Employers must provide all existing employees with two hours of training by April 19, 2021.
• Employers must provide two hours of training and education to new employees hired on or after April 19, 2021 within six months of their start date.
• Employers with fewer than three employees must provide two hours of training and education to all existing supervisory employees by April 19, 2021 or within six months to new supervisory employees.
• Employers must provide periodic supplemental training not less than every ten years.

The Commission encourages an employer having Fifty (50) or more employees to provide an update of legal interpretations and related developments concerning sexual harassment to supervisory personnel once every three (3) years.

For more information https://www.ct.gov/chro/cwp/view.asp?a=5019&Q=609536&chroNav=%7C 

Delaware

Employers with 50 or more employees must provide employees with interactive training and education on the prevention of sexual harassment.  

Training must be conducted for new employees within one year of their date of hire.  Existing employees must receive training within one year of the effective date of the new statute (January 1, 2019).

The training must cover:

• The illegality of sexual harassment
• Definition of sexual harassment with examples
• Legal remediation and compliant process
• Direct employees on how to contact the Delaware Department of Labor
• The legal prohibition against retaliation
• New supervisors must receive additional interactive training within one year of their date of hire or commencement of supervisory role.  Existing supervisors must take training by January 1, 2020.

This additional training must cover the specific responsibilities of supervisors in the prevention and correction of sexual harassment as well as the legal prohibition of retaliation.

Training for employees and supervisors must be repeated every two years.

For more information: https://dol.delaware.gov/ 

Illinois

Formerly Senate Bill 75, Public Act 101-0221 was signed into law by Governor Pritzker in August 2019. Under this Act, Illinois employers are required to train employees on sexual harassment prevention by December 31, 2020, and on an annual basis thereafter.  This requirement applies to all employers with employees working in this State.  Employers must either develop their own sexual harassment prevention training program that equals or exceeds the minimum standards for sexual harassment prevention training outlined in Section 2-109(B) of the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA), or they may use the model training provided by the IDHR.

In addition to providing the sexual harassment prevention training described above, restaurants and bars are required to provide supplemental sexual harassment prevention training that complies with Section 2-110 of the IHRA. Illinois restaurants and bars must either develop their own supplemental training or utilize the model training provided by the IDHR.  The IDHR’s supplemental training model for restaurants and bars is forthcoming.

For more information: https://www2.illinois.gov/  

Maine

“This law requires that all employers with fifteen or more employees, both public and private, who are located in or doing business in the state of Maine train all employees, including supervisors, within one year of commencement of their employment. The training must include the illegality of sexual harassment; the definition of sexual harassment under state and federal laws and federal regulations, including the Maine Human Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII; a description of sexual harassment, utilizing examples; the internal complaint process available to the employee; the legal recourse and complaint process available through the commission; and the protection against retaliation as provided under Title, section 4553, subsection 10, paragraph D.  Employers must conduct additional training for supervisory and managerial employees within one year of commencement of employment that includes, at a minimum, the specific responsibilities of supervisory and managerial employees and methods that these employees must take to ensure immediate and appropriate corrective action in addressing sexual harassment complaints. The Maine Human Rights Commission has clarified that Maine law does not specifically require interactive training or training of any particular duration, but has noted that interactive training is considered to be the most effective so long as it is high quality and allows employees to ask questions and receive an answer.”  See Title 26, §807

For more information: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec807.html 

Massachusetts

Massachusetts’ Fair Employment Practices Act states that

Employers and labor organizations are encouraged to conduct an education and training program for new employees and members, within one year of commencement of employment or membership, which includes at a minimum the information set forth in this section. Employers are encouraged to conduct additional training for new supervisory and managerial employees and members within one year of commencement of employment or membership, which shall include at a minimum the information set forth in subsection (b), the specific responsibilities of supervisory and managerial employees and the methods that such employees should take to ensure immediate and appropriate corrective action in addressing sexual harassment complaints. Employers, labor organizations and appropriate state agencies are encouraged to cooperate in making such training available.

See M.G.L. c. 151B § 3A(e).

For more information: https://www.mass.gov/service-details/about-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace 

New York

Every employer in New York State is required to provide employees with sexual harassment prevention training by October 9, 2019 and annually thereafter.  The training must be:

• Interactive
• Include an explanation of sexual harassment consistent with guidance issued by the Department of Labor in consultation with the Division of Human Rights
• include examples of conduct that would constitute unlawful sexual harassment
• include information concerning the federal and state statutory provisions concerning sexual harassment and remedies available to victims of sexual harassment
• include information concerning employees’ rights of redress and all available forums for adjudicating complaints
• include information addressing conduct by supervisors and any additional responsibilities for such supervisors

For more information: https://www.ny.gov/programs/combating-sexual-harassment-workplace 

Tennessee

The Tennessee Code requires the state Human Resources Department to:

Assist each department and entity of state government in the planning and conduct of training workshops to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. The department is also directed to design an orientation session with appropriate materials, which shall be made available to the departments for distribution to each new employee.

See. Tenn. Code § 4-3-1703.

There is no training requirement for private-sector employees.

For more information: https://www.tn.gov/humanrights.html 

Other US States

In some states, training is recommended but not required for private-sector employees.

These include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Employers should still affirmatively raise the subject, express strong disapproval, developing appropriate sanctions, inform employees of their right to raise and how to raise the issue of sexual harassment, and take any other steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. Effective policies and employee training can go a long way toward discouraging improper conduct before it becomes serious enough to violate the law.