New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the “Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act” (the “Act”) into law earlier this year (see our previous client alert here), which requires, by September 6, 2018, all New York City employers to post a formal notice in a conspicuous location on their premises and distribute a fact sheet to new hires. The New York City Commission on Human Rights recently released the required forms of notice to be posted and the information fact sheet to be distributed.
The Stop Sexual Harassment Act Notice must be posted in a conspicuous location. While the Act requires all employers to display the notice in English and Spanish, only the English version is available at this time. The Spanish version will be forthcoming.
The Stop Sexual Harassment Act Factsheet must be distributed to newly hired employees. Employers may either provide new employees with this fact sheet, or they may incorporate the fact sheet into an employee handbook. Unlike the Stop Sexual Harassment Act Notice, there is no requirement that employers distribute the fact sheet in another language besides English. However, a Spanish translated version of the fact sheet will be available in the future.
Both the notice and the fact sheet explain that sexual harassment and retaliation are prohibited under the City’s Human Rights Law. They also provide contact information for reporting sexual harassment to the NYC Commission on Human Rights, the New York State Division of Human Rights, and to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The Bottom Line
The notice must be posted and the fact sheet distributed to all newly hired employees by the September 6th deadline. If you have any questions or would like more information on how to comply with these mandates, please contact us.