• “Non-employees” such as contractors, subcontractors, vendors, consultants, or others providing services pursuant to a contract in the employer’s workplace are now covered under New York’s Human Rights Law. These newly covered individuals may bring a claim if the employer, its agents or supervisors knew, or should have known, about sexual harassment in the workplace and failed to take “immediate and appropriate corrective action.”

• All New York employers will be prohibited from including nondisclosure (commonly referred to as confidentiality) clauses in any settlement agreement or other resolution of a claim or cause of action “the foundation for which involves sexual harassment,” unless such confidentiality is the complainant’s (or plaintiff’s) preference. In addition, all parties to the agreement must be provided with the proposed confidentiality language, and the complainant (or plaintiff) must be given 21 days to consider any such provision as well as a 7-day period to revoke his or her consent to the provision. The confidentiality clause does not become effective or enforceable until after the 7-day revocation period has expired. 

• All New York employers will be prohibited from requiring employees to sign contracts that mandate arbitration of sexual harassment claims, “except where inconsistent with federal law.” The new law goes even further to declare existing agreements to arbitrate sexual harassment claims null and void. The federal law reference is sure to prompt challenges based on the Federal Arbitration Act. The new law contains a carve-out for arbitration provisions included in a collective bargaining agreement.  

• All New York employers will be required to either: (1) adopt the model sexual harassment policy and training program to be developed by the New York Department of Labor or New York Division on Human Rights, or (2) establish a policy and training program that meets or exceeds the minimum standards developed by these agencies. Employers will be required to distribute the harassment policy in writing to employees and to provide sexual harassment training to all employees on at least an annual basis. There are specific training requirements in the law that must be followed. 

• All New York entities vying for state contracts will be required to include language in their bids affirming they have implemented a written sexual harassment policy and annual sexual harassment prevention training for all employees. Failure to include this will disqualify the entity from the bid, unless the employer furnished a signed statement explaining the reasons for non-compliance.

• All NYC employers, even those with fewer than four employees, will be covered by the NYC Human Rights Law for the purposes of gender-based harassment claims. In addition, such claims shall have a three year, instead of the usual one year, statute of limitations.

• All NYC contractors must provide an employment report to the contracting agency detailing the contractor’s employment practices and policies relating to the prevention of sexual harassment. The report will be reviewed by the Commissioner of the contracting agency for compliance with local, state and federal laws. 

• All NYC employers must conspicuously post the anti-sexual harassment rights and responsibilities poster designed by the New York City Commission on Human Rights in at least English and Spanish. In addition, employers are required to provide all new hires with an “information sheet” developed by the Commission or include this information sheet in their employee handbook. NFC will provide further information once the required poster and “information sheet” become available.

• All NYC employers with 15 or more employees must provide annual sexual harassment training to ALL employees who work 80 or more hours per year in NYC, including interns. The law includes training requirements, and this training can be done in connection with the required state training referenced above.