Update: The New York State Department of Labor released translations of the model sexual harassment prevention policy and training. You will find it in Spanish, Haitian-Creole and five other languages.
The New York State Department of Labor released the updated model sexual harassment prevention materials today. Employers, here are your key action items for right now:
- Put your policy in place now. All New York employers are required to have a sexual harassment prevention policy in place beginning October 9, 2018, next Tuesday. Your policy must meet or exceed all of New York’s requirements in the model policy. Most farms don’t currently have a policy so it’s OK to just use the state’s model policy. There are a couple of things your should do to customize it for your farm:
- Download the policy from the state’s website in either PDF or Microsoft Word format.
- Change the yellow highlighted “Employer Name” text to your farm or business name.
- Designate a contact person. On pages 1, 2, 5, and 6 of the model policy there is yellow highlighted text that refers to the “person or office designated.” You are supposed to insert the name or office of the person to whom any harassment complaints should be reported. In most farms this will be the owner, ideally you should list two people here so that the employee has an option of at least two people they could go to. (This is to avoid the situation where the person doing the harassing is the same person designated to receive harassment complaints.)
- Print copies and provide to your employees or inform employees and give them electronic access to your new policy.
- Provide the “Combat Harassment Complaint Form.” Scroll down the state’s website to find the model complaint form, also in PDF and Word format. Incorporate this form into your handbook right after the sexual harassment policy or print copies and provide it to your employees.
- Customize and post the “Sexual Harassment Prevention Poster” in your break room or office. This is optional but it is a good practice.
- Plan to provide training. We have until October 9, 2019 to provide training for all employees, that’s a welcome relief of one year thanks to the great input provided by farm organizations and other employer groups. Yes, that means all employees must get training, full-time, part-time, seasonal, permanent, H2A, managers, non-family, family, and that high school kid who runs the weed whacker in the summertime. Plan to have a refresher training once per year for all employees and to incorporate sexual harassment training into your new employee onboarding program.
All of the materials are available only in English right now. You will be in compliance if you put your policy in place in English for now. Later, when other translations are provided by the state, you will be required to provide the policy and training in a language that your employees can understand.
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By Richard Stup, Cornell University. Permission granted to repost, quote, and reprint with author attribution.
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