LIEB BLOG

Legal Analysts

Showing posts with label sexual harassment training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexual harassment training. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Failing to Comply with Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training Law - Lawsuits Are Happening

Labor Law 201-g went into effect on October 9, 2018.


Did you know that Plaintiffs (sexual harassment victims) are suing companies for failing to comply with this mandatory training and disclosure law?


In December of 2018, New York County saw its first lawsuit alleging that a "Plaintiff was injured, in whole or in part, as a result of CIRE's failure to comply with NYC Admin Code § 8-107(29) and Labor Law § 201-g."


The case was about a "hostile, offensive, abusive and otherwise inappropriate work environment." 


Allegedly, this harassment included:

  • Asking Plaintiff if he was single;
  • Asking Plaintiff to go out with her for drinks and dinner, unrelated to business;
  • Telling Plaintiff how handsome he and flirting with Plaintiff;
  • Complimenting Plaintiff's choice of clothes;
  • Telling Plaintiff he should have a girlfriend;
  • Telling Plaintiff that having a girlfriend would afford him a health insurance entitlement, which "by the way I, Sarine have health insurance";
  • Telling Plaintiff what color clothing he should be warning;
  • Moving her desk next to Plaintiff's desk;
  • Staring at Plaintiff at all hours of the day and commenting on his face or hair;
  • Standing unnecessarily close to Plaintiff when speaking;
  • Inappropriately attempting to give Plaintiff hugs and kisses;
  • Demanding that Plaintiff "pinky swear" so that he not disclose something that occurred between Ms. Atamian and another employee, just so she could touch Plaintiff's hand;
  • Unnecessarily interrupting Plaintiff's conversations with others;
  • Demanding that Plaintiff open personal packages and mail in front of her;
  • Requiring that Plaintiff make all requests for basic company information, documentation, etc., through her, where other brokers were permitted to engage in such activities on their own.
  • Making inappropriate inquiries concerning what Plaintiff was doing, who he was with, etc. when he was not at the Office;" 


In fact, the Plaintiff argued that this violation of Labor Law  § 201-g  should result in Christie's International Real Estate Group, Inc. and two individual parties, paying "compensatory damages, punitive damages, statutory damages and special damages, as well as his costs, fees (including attorneys' fees) and disbursements, plus pre and post judgment interest, in amounts to be determined at trial, which amounts exceed the jurisdictional minimums of this Court"


Have you scheduled your annual training yet?



Monday, September 09, 2019

Deadline = 1 Month: Sexual Harassment Prevention Training

Attention all employers / HR managers - you have 1 month left to complete your sexual harassment prevention training of all employees as required by Labor Law 201-g.

Failure to train = misdemeanor and exposure to lots of fines by the DOL.

Get your employees trained at sexualharassmenttrainingny.com


Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Status as a Victim of Domestic Violence is Now a Protected Class in New York State

Attention Employers in New York State: Governor Cuomo signed bill S1040 into law extending protections against discrimination in the workplace to victims of domestic violence.

The new law prohibits an employer from hiring or firing an employee or otherwise discriminating against an employee in compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of such employee's status as a victim of domestic violence. The law also requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodations to an employee who is known by the employer to be a victim of domestic violence, unless providing an accommodation would cause an "undue hardship" to the employer.

Reasonable accommodations for victims of domestic violence are limited to: seeking medical attention; obtaining services from a domestic violence shelter, program or rape crisis center; obtaining psychological counseling or legal services; and, taking safety measures to increase protections against future incidents of domestic violence (e.g. relocation). Time off as a result of such accommodation may be charged against the employee's paid time-off (per law and/or employer's policy). If paid time off is unavailable, an employer may treat such absence as leave without pay.

Employers should immediately update their handbooks, policies, and discrimination prevention trainings to comply with this new law.

Monday, August 12, 2019

Alert: Cuomo Makes it Easier for Workplace Sexual Harassment Claims

Attention Employers and HR!!!!

Cuomo signs sexual harassment law- as we first reported on June 19, 2019, A08421 passed both houses and now Cuomo has made it the law of the State of New York.

The legislation does the following:
  • Changes the severe or pervasive standard of harassment to a very low standard of more than petty slights or trivial inconveniences;
  • Eliminates part of the Faragher/Ellerth affirmative defense to a lawsuit by making the fact that the employee did not make a complaint about the harassment to the employer not determinative as to liability;
  • Extends protection for non-employees in the workplace to all protected classes;
  • Allows courts to award attorney's fees on all claims of employment discrimination, and allow for punitive damages in employment discrimination cases against private employers;
  • Provide that the Human Rights Law is to be construed liberally for remedial purposes, regardless of how federal laws have been construed;
  • Prohibit mandatory arbitration clauses for discrimination claims;
  • Prohibit non-disclosure agreements in any settlement for a claim of discrimination, unless it's the complainant's preference;
  • Provide that any term or condition in a non-disclosure agreement is void if it prohibits the complainant from initiating or participating in an agency investigation or disclosing facts necessary to receive public benefits;
  • Require that employees be notified that non-disclosure agreements in employment contracts cannot prevent them from talking to the police, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the State Division of Human Rights or a similar local entity, or a lawyer;
  • Extend the authority of the Attorney General to prosecute certain civil and criminal cases of discrimination against all protected classes;
  • Require the Department of Labor and the Division of Human Rights to evaluate the impact of the model sexual harassment prevention policy every four years and update the policy as needed;
  • Require any term or condition in a non-disclosure agreement be provided in writing to all parties, in plain English and the primary language of the complainant;
  • Require the commissioner of the Labor Department to prepare templates of the model policy in languages other than English;
  • Require every employer to provide employees with their sexual harassment policy in English or their primary language when they are hired and during training; and
  • Extend the statute of limitations to file a sexual harassment complaint with the Division of Human Rights from one year to three years.

Visit discriminationpreventiontraining.com to keep your company safe from discrimination claims while maintaining a safe workplace for all.



Deadline looms in sexual harassment prevention training

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Harassment Law Game Changer - HR's Sample Notice to Employees

Attention Business Owners and HR

Lieb Compliance has solved your immediate need to protect your company against the new NYS Workplace Harassment Standard - see below.

Alert: Workplace harassment / discrimination standard reduced to permit claims for acts only rising above "petty slights" or "trivial inconveniences."

Act Now: You must act swiftly to advise your teams that absolutely no conversations, pictures or actions will be allowed that are related to anyone's demographics (age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, marital status, domestic violence victim status, and religion)

To Do: Send this email to your team NOW!

"To Our Team:

As you are aware, this company firmly believes that discrimination and harassment is contrary to the values we promote in the workplace and is detrimental to our success as a company. With the passing of new laws in New York State strengthening anti-discrimination and anti-harassment protections, we are taking this opportunity to reiterate our zero tolerance policy to harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Any acts or comments that you may think are trivial inconveniences or petty slights, but may be perceived by an employee to be based on or related to his or her demographics (i.e., age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, marital status, domestic violence victim status, and religion) will not be tolerated.

You are our "first line of defense" and must take proactive roles in ensuring that our work environment remains free of discrimination and harassment. If  you think an employee may perceive a comment or act - even if it is isolated - to be related to his or her demographics, you should refrain from making such comment or taking such action. In addition, if you witness such conduct or are informed that such conduct occurred, you should immediately report the conduct to your boss, manager, HR team or business owner. Upon receiving your report, an investigation will be conducted promptly and any and all corrective action will ensue.

We are currently in the process of updating our formal policies and workplace discrimination trainings in light of the new law and we anticipate circulating such policies and conducting updated training for all employees in the near future. If you have any questions related to our anti-discrimination or anti-harassment policy you are encouraged to contact your boss or HR. Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping our workplace void of discrimination and harassment.

Again, we need you to keep our workplace free from harassment and discrimination."

Note: This is sample language meant to be a general notice to be distributed to employees in the workplace and is not intended to address any specific situations in the workplace. Any such situations or questions should be directed to employment counsel.

Visit discriminationpreventiontraining.com to keep your company safe from discrimination claims while maintaining a safe workplace for all.


Tuesday, April 16, 2019

NYREJ | 2019 Ones to Watch: Andrew Lieb, Esq.

Monday, April 01, 2019

New Sexual Harassment Law Alert - NYC Employers Must Annually Train Independent Contractors Effective 4/1/19

On 4/1/19 a brand new NYC law requires employers to annually train all employees and independent contractors and have a compliance protocol in place. Andrew Lieb, Esq. and Mordy Yankovich Esq share the news and explain the requirements.


Monday, March 18, 2019

Employers With Independent Contractors - What You Need To Know About The New Law Requiring Sexual Harassment Prevention Training

Andrew Lieb, Esq. and Mordy Yankovich, Esq. clarify what employers need to know about the new NYS and NYC laws requiring sexual harassment prevention training.

Watch this clip and learn about your responsibilities and exposure.




Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Employers - Watch out for Sexual Harassment Training Vendors Claiming to Be Compliant When They Are Not - Here is What You Need To Know

Employers who are seeking to purchase sexual harassment prevention training and policies in compliance with the new New York State and New York City sexual harassment laws must be mindful that some vendors are offering trainings that are not compliant with the new laws.

The New York State law (Section 201-g of the N.Y. Labor Law), which took effect on October 9, 2018, requires that all employers issue a sexual harassment prevention policy that meet minimum requirements including but not limited to establishing a procedure, specifically tailored to each individual employer, for timely investigation of all complaints and issuing a complaint form. 

Therefore - if a company is claiming they can offer a uniform training for any employee to take - be mindful that employers must have a sexual harassment prevention policy and complaint form that specifically shows the employee how to make a complaint and whom to make a complaint to and the information must be including in the training. In the NYS model training, it states: "The training should detail any internal process employees are encouraged to use to complain and include the contact information for the specific name(s) and office(s) with which employees alleging harassment should file their complaints."

The NYS law also requires annual training for all employees (and training for new employees within a reasonable time after hiring). The training must be interactive and must include; 1) an explanation of sexual harassment consistent with guidance issued by the Department of Labor; 2) examples of conduct that constitute unlawful harassment; 3) information regarding the specific state and federal statutory provision concerning sexual harassment and the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment; 4) information regarding employees' rights of redress and remedies available to victims; 5) information regarding conduct responsibilities of supervisors.

The New York City law (Local Law 96), effective April 1, 2019, requires employers with fifteen (15) or more employees to conduct annual training which must be interactive and must include, among other requirements, the employer's specific process for addressing sexual harassment complaints, information concerning bystander intervention and the specific responsibilities of managers and supervisors to address complaints of harassment. In addition, the NYC law requires that employers obtained signed acknowledgment from employees that they attended the training.

While not required, policies and trainings should also address other forms of harassment and discrimination (i.e. race and age), to minimize exposure to potential lawsuits against the employer.

It is imperative that employers choose a vendor who is offering trainings and policies in strict compliance to these new laws to avoid unnecessary penalties and exposure to lawsuits.

Lieb Compliance offers a fully compliant training package including a compliant sexual harassment prevention policy, complaint form and interactive training.



Thursday, February 14, 2019

Facebook has a non-discrimination policy - fair housing lawsuits are coming...

In the era of #MeToo, NYS' mandatory sexual harassment trainings (labor law 201-g), NYC's mandatory sexual harassment trainings (local law 96) and CA's expanded training requirement requirement (SB 1343), Facebook has gotten into the game.

This week, Facebook Advertisers are being required to certify that they "[h]ave reviewed and will abide by our Advertising Policies and all applicable laws" and "[w]ill not use Facebook Advertising for any wrongfully discriminatory practices." It is noted that Facebook's list of protected classes does not cover all classes protected by employment / housing discrimination laws and Facebook acknowledges this fact by stating "[s]ince non-discrimination laws vary by region, be sure to comply with our policy and relevant laws in your location and the location you're targeting."

Of note, Facebook is likely causing advertisers to agree in an attempt to insulate the platform from suit for hosting a hostile environment. However, agreeing to the policy certainly doesn't insulate the advertiser from suit.

So, be warned, your advertisements are being watched by Plaintiffs' counsel and you will be sued if you discriminate in any fashion. As such, targeting demographics is off limits and you should sell your product's / position's benefit and target user's prior preferences / searches, not specific users by their demographics (e.g., "race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family/marital status, disability or medical or genetic condition") and how those demographics are correlated to predicted desires.


Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Real Tips HR: Sexual Harassment Prevention Trainings & Policies in NY

Learn what happens when NY Employers do not provide sexual harassment prevention trainings and policies to their employees. Every NYS employer must provide their employees with both an annual sexual harassment prevention training and policy pursuant to Labor Law section 201-g. It is a misdemeanor for Employers to violate the Labor Law and likely will trigger an EPLI insurance provider to disclaim coverage in a prospective sex discrimination lawsuit. Employment Experts Andrew Lieb, Esq. and Mordy Yankovich, Esq. share your risks.


Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Real estate salespersons must receive sexual harassment trainings - by Andrew Lieb

There are two different laws applicable to real estate salespersons and associate real estate brokers in New York City, which require sexual harassment prevention trainings. There is the New York State law and the New York City law. 

Read the full article by Andrew Lieb, Esq. published in the New York Real Estate Journal here. 


Monday, January 21, 2019

Real Tips HR: How Employers Should Handle Sexual Harassment Complaints after Party (Episode 1)

Introducing our new HR YOUTUBE channel - answering tough questions faced by employers so you don't have to. Stay tuned for more!

View Episode OneEmployment Attorneys Andrew Lieb and Mordy Yankovich share tips for Employers about how to handle an initial sexual harassment complaint stemming from an office holiday party. Learn to 1) obtain a statement; 2) with a witness; 3) using a complaint form; 4) to evaluate whether a formal investigation is necessary; and 5) to always have a sexual harassment policy at your workplace.


Saturday, January 12, 2019

Risk and Penalties To Employers Who Fail To Provide Sexual Harassment Prevention Training in NY

Some employers want to know if they can chose to take the penalty and forego the NY required sexual harassment prevention training, policy and complaint form. Here is a cost benefit analysis explanation that you should read before making such a terrible decision.

The fines can be huge, although that isn't even the start of an explanation of the problems that an employer will face if they choose to forgo compliance with Labor Law 201-g (i.e., training their employees, providing a sexual harassment prevention policy, and offering a complaint form). Please understand that the penalties are applied per a provision of the law violated and not by an employer who violates, in general, as a single penalty. Therefore, each employee can represent at least 3 violations. The fines start at $100 per employee for the first violation and goes up from there (fines go up per number of violations such as not training, not providing a sexual harassment prevention policy and not supplying a complaint form with fines being compounded per employee).  So for a mid size company, fines can be in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. We recommend taking a look at Labor Law 213 to understand further. When reading, you will learn that the real risk is that violating the Labor Law is chargeable with a misdemeanor and possible imprisonment. 

Beyond these surface Labor Law penalties, failure to train / have a policy / provide a complaint form will be catastrophic to an employer in defending a sex discrimination lawsuit because 2 important defenses will be lost, including:
  1. The Kolstad v. American Dental Association Affirmative Defense, which avoids punitive damages.
  1. The Burlington Industries Inc. v. Ellerth & Faragher v. City of Boca Raton Affirmative Defense, which avoids an employer being liable for a hostile work environment created by a supervisor if harassment doesn't result in a tangible employment action (e.g., denial of raise / promotion).
Beyond the loss of these defenses, it will be nearly impossible for any attorney, no matter how skilled, to defend a lawsuit where an employer willfully failed to comply with a law designed to prevent the very experience complained of by the victim in the first instance. Imagine the opening statements at a trial:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, the defendants actively chose to forgo training their staff on sexual harassment prevention, as every other employer in this State is required to do, because they clearly want to maintain a chauvinistic workplace where women are treated as objects not equals. Today, we ask you to teach them a lesson. We ask you to teach all employers a lesson. Women matter. Women have rights. The workplace must be safe. The Labor Law insists that it is. We ask you to teach the defendants a lesson that violating the law is not a choice. New York State introduced Labor Law 201-g to prevent the very harassment that occurred to the Plaintiff. No, the defendants did not have a sexual harassment prevention policy to tell everyone what behavior was unacceptable in the workplace although they were required to have such a policy. No, the defendants did not have a sexual harassment prevention training to clarify what behavior was unacceptable in the workplace although they were required to have such a training. No, the defendants did not have a sexual harassment prevention complaint form to empower victims to protect themselves from unacceptable harassment occuring in the workplace although they were required to have such a complaint form. These defendants actively chose to violate the laws of this State and now they must answer. Some people only understand rules when they are forced to right a check. We ask you to teach them the rules. These defendants need to learn the rules about sexual harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment will not be tolerated...   
To add insult to injury, it is anticipated that an employer with an EPLI policy in place to avoid this pain will learn quickly how easily coverage under such a policy can be disclaimed (i.e., no insurance defense or damages paid) for violating Labor Law 201-g. So, the employer will be stuck with paying exorbitant legal fees (i.e., these cases take a long time and are very fact intensive) and damages, without the very insurance policy, which they've been paying premiums on for years, in place. 
We are sure that you understand that this isn't the type of law that you can just do a cost / benefit analysis and decide to take the penalty. The risk is simply off the charts. In our opinion, if an employer defends a cognizable lawsuit without having complied with Labor Law 201-g, they may, very predictably, be going out of business. 


The trial will be painful for the employer to say the least. 


Wednesday, December 05, 2018

Everything you need to know about NY Mandatory Sexual Harassment Prevention Trainings & Policies

Every NYS employer must provide their employees with both an annual sexual harassment prevention training and policy pursuant to Labor Law section 201-g. It is a misdemeanor for Employers to violate the Labor Law and likely will trigger an EPLI insurance provider to disclaim coverage in a prospective sex discrimination lawsuit.

Highlights:
  • Sexual Harassment Policies: All employers must adopt and provide a sexual harassment prevention policy to all employees by 10/9/18. If your company already has a sexual harassment policy, make sure that it meets or exceeds the newly required minimum standards.
  • All Employees Must Be Trained: Between 10/9/18 and 10/9/19 all employees must be trained and annually thereafter on each employee's anniversary, start date or date selected by employer.
  • New Employees Must Be Trained and Provided Policies ImmediatelyEmployers are liable for the actions of employees immediately upon hire, the State encourages training as soon as possible.
  • NYC Independent Contractors: The NYC Commission on Human Rights requires employers with 15 or more employees (which includes independent contractors) to provide training to all independent contractors who have performed work for the employer for more than 90 days or 80 hours in a calendar year.
  • Policy and Training For Independent Contractors: The State Human Rights Law imposes liability on the employer for their actions and encourages employers to provide the policy and training to anyone providing services in the workplace including contractors, subcontractors, vendors and consultants.
Why Employers Should Not Use NYS Sample Policy:
  1. It does not address every other protected class under which an employer can be sued for discrimination (e.g., race, religion, color, national origin, sex [including pregnancy], military status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, genetic information, disability or any other personal characteristics considered to be a protected class under applicable federal, state or local laws). Updating the policy matters because when sued for discrimination by a different protected class, you will be able to explain that everyone is protected in the workplace.
  2. It does not list potential remedial measures (e.g., termination, suspension, probation, demotion, reassignment, etc.). Updating the policy matters because employees who do not know the consequences are unlikely to care about changing behavior and, more importantly, without clear expectations an employer can be sued for arbitrarily applying their policy in a discriminatory manner.
  3. It does not cause an employee to agree to its terms and to acknowledge written receipt of the policy and complaint form, which is required by law. Updating the policy matters because without records you have nothing when faced with a Department of Labor audit or a prospective lawsuit. More so, you can justify termination for cause when an employee violates your policy, which they affirmatively agreed to follow.
Why Employers Should Not Use NYS Sample Training Videos:
  • NYS has released videos to comply with the NYS required sexual harassment training under Labor Law 201-g. However, the website for the videos expressly advises that they are non-compliant.  "the videos alone are NOT considered interactive. If you are using this video to meet the training requirements, you must also: ask questions of employees as part of the program; accommodate questions asked by employees, with answers provided in a timely manner; or require feedback from employees about the training and the materials presented."
What To Look For In A Sexual Harassment Training Vendor:
  • A system to track that employees took the training in anticipation of a Department of Labor audit;
  • A system to track that the sexual harassment policy and complaint form were distributed in writing and agreed to be followed (i.e., clickwrap) by the employee - distribution of these documents is also required;
  • A branded policy and training, with both addressing all types of discrimination, beyond just sexual harassment, because the employer may face a discrimination suit on a different protected class and wouldn't want to have to explain to a jury why they only cared about sex discrimination, not the applicable protected class (e.g., race, marital status, disability, etc.); and
  • Most importantly, a digital on-demand product because the training needs to be instantly available to new employees (i.e., NYS requires trainings as soon as possible from start date and NYC requires trainings within 90 days of start date)
Why Lieb Compliance Is Your Solution: 
Lieb Compliance offers a solution that not only complies with all of the updated regulations but also helps defend prospective litigation.
  • Complies with both Labor Law 201-g and Local Law 96 (NYS / NYC requirements for sexual harassment prevention) 
  • Our platform is an interactive video that employees can take at their convenience with a high speed Internet connection. The platform includes a branded sexual harassment prevention policy and complaint form that requires employees to download and review the form
  • Our competitors rarely offer an opportunity for employers to require that their employees affirmatively agree to be bound by their policy through a digital clickwrap receipt 
  • Our content and instructor, Andrew Lieb, who teaches through case studies and practical advice, not theory. Mr. Lieb, Esq is an employment law litigator and is regarded as one of the best legal educators in the country who can make a boring required topic, like sexual harassment prevention, come to life through humor and fun. That is why our trainings have continuously received rave reviews from C-suite executives, who frequently tell us that our trainings have transformed employee compliance into a morale building experience. Simply, employees thank their bosses for hiring Lieb Compliance
To learn more, check out our demo and you will be sold.



Monday, November 19, 2018

Why Employers Should NOT Use NYS Sexual Harassment Sample Videos & Policies

Many employers are saying that they will write sexual harassment policies and conduct the mandatory trainings themselves, but they will quickly find that doing it themselves is a big mistake. Without an in-house employment attorney, internal compliance department and/or a comprehensive training program, employers will face the following internal training issues:
  • Employers must comply with Labor Law 201-g (NYS) and Local Law 96 (NYC).
  • New employees must be trained as soon as possible in NYS. NYC requires training within 90 days. So, employers that want to have an annual training for their team must consider multiple trainings when they hire new staff. 
  • Employers that plan to use the sample training videos that NYS released will learn that they simply do not comply with the laws. 
In fact the NYS website clearly states:

the videos alone are NOT considered interactive. If you are using this video to meet the training requirements, you must also: ask questions of employees as part of the program; accommodate questions asked by employees, with answers provided in a timely manner; or require feedback from employees about the training and the materials presented.

Employers that plan to use the sample sexual harassment policy released from New York State are making a big mistake. 

Here are 3 reasons why the NYS sample policy is just not enough:

1. It does not address every other protected class under which an employer can be sued for discrimination (e.g., race, religion, color, national origin, sex [including pregnancy], military status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, genetic information, disability or any other personal characteristics considered to be a protected class under applicable federal, state or local laws)
Updating the policy matters because when sued for discrimination by a different protected class, you will be able to explain that everyone is protected in the workplace.

2. It does not list potential remedial measures (e.g., termination, suspension, probation, demotion, reassignment, etc.).

Updating the policy matters because employees who do not know the consequences are unlikely to care about changing behavior and, more importantly, without clear expectations an employer can be sued for arbitrarily applying their policy in a discriminatory manner.

3. It does not cause an employee to agree to its terms and to acknowledge written receipt of the policy and complaint form, which is required by law.

Updating the policy matters because without records you have nothing when faced with a Department of Labor audit or a prospective lawsuit. More so, you can justify termination for cause when an employee violates your policy, which they affirmatively agreed to follow.

Moreover, there are ramifications for employers who do not have their employees take the training (i.e., it's a misdemeanor and likely will trigger an EPLI insurance provider to disclaim coverage in a prospective sex discrimination lawsuit). With risk avoidance being the key to these new laws, a sexual harassment vendor should offer the following:
  1. A system to track that employees took the training in anticipation of a Department of Labor audit;
  2. A system to track that the sexual harassment policy and complaint form were distributed in writing and agreed to be followed (i.e., clickwrap) by the employee - distribution of these documents is also required;
  3. A branded policy and training, with both addressing all types of discrimination, beyond just sexual harassment, because the employer may face a discrimination suit on a different protected class and wouldn't want to have to explain to a jury why they only cared about sex discrimination, not the applicable protected class (e.g., race, marital status, disability, etc.); and
  4. Most importantly, a digital on-demand product because the training needs to be instantly available to new employees 

Lieb Compliance offer employers a web-based, on-demand interactive video training platform. While we understand that there are many vendors who train on sexual harassment, most of them don't offer online trainings in compliance with both Labor Law 201-g and Local Law 96. Further, most don't offer to digitally distribute a branded company policy and a tailored complaint form, which are both required under laws. Still further, our competitors rarely offer an opportunity for employers to require that their employees affirmatively agree to be bound by their policy through a digital clickwrap receipt. Please understand that our system goes above and beyond to make compliance easy. We include security checkpoints, randomized quiz questions, note-taking, and the ability for employees to ask questions of the instructor. We even offer monthly user reports so employers can monitor their team's compliance.  

Many "lawyers" teach, but being licensed isn't enough, being dynamic is everything when presenting emotion-ridden topics to employees. Our courses are led by Andrew Lieb, Esq., who founded Lieb Compliance and is our Chief Compliance Officer. Andrew is a prolific author and has trained tens of thousands of employees and independent contractors nationally on compliance topics. He's taught on the college level (human sexuality), he's taught corporate compliance and he even operates a New York State licensed school. Simply stated, he's our secret sauce. 

We encourage you to learn more about our Sexual Harassment Prevention Trainings and Services.



NEW LAW: New York City Independent Contractors Must Receive Sexual Harassment Training

All independent contractors in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx must receive sexual harassment training if there are more than fifteen (15) employees / independent contractors.

The NYC Commission on Human Rights recently released guidance on the "Stop Sexual Harassment Act" which requires employers to provide sexual harassment training to its employees on an annual basis.  

The guidance clarifies that the law requires all employers with fifteen (15) or more employees (which includes independent contractors) to provide training to all independent contractors who have performed work for the employer for more than 90 days or 80 hours in a calendar year. All employers who have more than 15 employees/independent contractors must ensure they are compliant with the new law which takes effect on April 1, 2019.

Employers should visit - sexualharassmenttrainingny.com to get your employees and independent contractors trained today. 


Thursday, November 15, 2018

NYS releases sexual harassment training videos that DO NOT comply with NYS Law

Ironically, NYS has released videos to comply with the NYS required sexual harassment training under Labor Law 201-g. However, the website for the videos expressly advises that they are non-compliant.

In fact the website states:
the videos alone are NOT considered interactive. If you are using this video to meet the training requirements, you must also: ask questions of employees as part of the program; accommodate questions asked by employees, with answers provided in a timely manner; or require feedback from employees about the training and the materials presented.
To comply with the NYS law, easily, effectively and efficiently, just go to sexualharassmenttrainingny.com

Sexualharassmenttrainingny.com has interactive videos in full compliance with the Labor Law and also offers sexual harassment policies, complaint forms and record keeping making you 100% in compliance with the law.


NEW LAW: New York City Brokers are Required to Provide Sexual Harassment Trainings to Independent Contractors

All real estate salespersons in NYC, which includes Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx, must receive sexual harassment training if there are more than fifteen (15) employees/independent contractors in the brokerage.

The NYC Commission on Human Rights recently released guidance on the "Stop Sexual Harassment Act" which requires employers to provide sexual harassment training to its employees on an annual basis.  

Of particular importance to real estate brokers, the guidance clarifies that the law requires all employers with fifteen (15) or more employees (which includes independent contractors) to provide training to all independent contractors who have performed work for the employer for more than 90 days or 80 hours in a calendar year. All brokers who have more than 15 employees/independent contractors must ensure they are compliant with the new law which takes effect on April 1, 2019.

Brokers should visit - sexualharassmenttrainingny.com - to get your agents trained today.