On April 11, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul announced updates to New York’s Sexual Harassment Model Policy, which were prepared by the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) for employers to comply with state laws protecting employees from sexual harassment in the workplace. Under New York State law, every employer is required to adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy—and such employers may use the state’s model prevention policy or adopt their own policy that meets or exceeds the state’s minimum standards.

The final Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy, online resources and interactive training video were compiled by the DOL, which collaborated with the New York State Division of Human Rights to ensure compliance with the mandatory training requirements. The policy now addresses remote workers, gender discrimination, retaliation and other new guidance to protect workers.

Employers are required to provide annual sexual harassment and discrimination prevention training to their employees, and to provide a hard copy of the policy or provide it by email to each employee at the time of hiring and annually during training.

The Combating Sexual Harassment in the Workplace website includes the model prevention policy, prevention training video, model prevention policy notice, model complaint form and model training, as well as an updated Frequently Asked Questions section, new slide deck and script for employers to use, and other resources to ensure compliance with all employee training. DOL plans to launch a public education campaign to help businesses and workers understand the newly strengthened policy.