Under Connecticut’s “Time’s Up Act,” all employers with three or more employees must provide a minimum of two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to all employees prior to October 1, 2020, or within six months of hire.  More information on the Act’s requirements can be found here.  Understandably, many employers are struggling with how to provide this training under the current conditions.  In light of the COVID-19 emergency, the CHRO has extended the deadline for training new employees.

From the CHRO’s website:

Pursuant to the sexual harassment training requirements in the newly enacted Time’s Up bill, upon request to CHRO.questions@ct.gov, employers who have employees hired after October 1, 2019 will be given a 90-day extension to complete the training requirement.  The employer will need to explain that it was unable to complete the training requirement for those affected employees due to current COVID-19 restrictions. Examples may be lack of access to technology including computer/the internet, illness of the employee or other unforeseeable circumstances. 

So, what does this mean?  If an employer is unable to complete the training of one or more of its new employees (i.e. those hired after October 1, 2019) within six months of hire, it can request a 90-day extension of time to complete the training.  The employer, however, must explain the reason that it could not meet the original deadline due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

Be aware that the timeframe for training employees hired before October 1, 2019 has NOT changed.  Training for these employees still must be completed by October 1, 2020. Attorneys from our Labor and Employment department are available to provide this required training for your employees. 

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