CONDUCT & CULTURE EDITION
Highlights
Lawmakers introduced new bills that include sexual harassment and discrimination prevention training mandates in the U.S. states of Virginia, Maryland, Hawaii, Illinois, and New Jersey.
Laws to Watch
Each of the bills discussed below has a long way to go before becoming law, and most bills do not become laws. Still, it's important for employers to keep track of bills that could become the law in the future, not only to prepare for new workplace requirements and avoid the risk of potential non-compliance, but also to understand the training trends related to harassment and discrimination that these bills represent.
Harassment & Discrimination Training Bills
| State | Bill #(s) | Key Concepts | What it would mean for employers if passed |
| VA | HB-757 | New sexual harassment training mandate would apply to private sector and government employers | Starting 1/1/23, this bill would require employers doing business in or operating within VA that have 5 or more employees to provide, every 2 years, at least 1 hour of interactive sexual harassment prevention training to non-supervisory employees, and 2 hours to supervisors. This bill is almost identical to the existing CA training mandate, except that the VA bill would not require the training to cover "abusive conduct" (CA law does); nor is it as detailed as CA law in laying out what kinds of expertise qualified trainers must possess. |
| MD | SB-540 | Amends "sexual harassment" definition for enforcement and training purposes | Effective 10/1/22, MD employers would be subject to an amended definition of illegal harassment, including sexual harassment, to clarify that it need not be "severe or pervasive" as currently defined under federal law. If this bill becomes law, savvy employers will update their anti-harassment policies as needed to incorporate the amended definition. Eliminating the "severe or pervasive" standard would make sexual harassment easier to prove in court, and increase the risk of liability for employers. Several U.S. jurisdictions, including the states of Delaware and New York, as well as New York City, have already dispensed with the "severe or pervasive" standard. Current MD law requires only public-sector employers, including the University System of MD, to provide their employees with sexual harassment prevention training. This bill would also require these same employers to incorporate the amended definition of sexual harassment in the trainings they use. The bill does not create a training mandate for private-sector employers, however. This bill was previously introduced in 2021 as SB-834. |
| IL | HB-5074 | Would amend existing sexual harassment training mandate to also apply to trade unions | Employers in IL must currently provide training on preventing sexual harassment to employees at least once per year. However, the law as currently written does not specify whether unions must provide the training to their employees. This bill, if enacted into law, would explicitly apply the training mandate to union employees every time they're hired for a new job, unless the worker has has already participated in a sexual harassment prevention training program during the calendar year. Conversely, employers would not be required to provide training to a unionized worker who has already received the training through their union. |
| HI | SB-3310 | New sexual harassment training mandate would apply to talent agencies that employ minors | This bill would require talent agencies that employ minors under the age of 18 to make available to the minors, and to their parents or guardians, educational materials regarding sexual harassment prevention and nutrition and eating disorders. |
| NJ | AB-1691 | New unlawful discrimination and harassment training mandate would apply to private sector and government employers, including live, in-person training requirements applicable to larger employers | This bill makes several significant changes to the NJ anti-discrimination and -harassment law. A few highlights follow: Within one year of potential enactment into law, this bill would require all NJ employers to establish or update their written workplace policies on unlawful discrimination and harassment as specified, and to review these policies annually for legal compliance. The bill would also mandate all NJ employers to provide interactive training to employees on preventing workplace discrimination and harassment, including bystander intervention training, and additional supervisor-specific topics where applicable. Employers would be required to provide the training within 90 days of an employee's hire or promotion, and at least once every two years afterward. Employers with 50 or more employees would need to provide the training "in a live, in-person setting where participants can ask questions" and provide interpretation for employees with limited English language abilities. Additional training translation and record-keeping requirements would apply to all employers; employers with 50 or more employees would need to collect and report specified data about complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination to a state agency. This bill was previously introduced as AB-4637 in 2020, and as SB-3352 in 2021. |
| NJ | AB-814 | New sexual harassment training mandate would apply to restaurants with 15 or more employees | This bill would require NJ restaurants that employ 15 or more people to adopt a sexual harassment policy, and to provide interactive sexual harassment training to all employees with 90 days of hire or promotion—and at least once every 5 years afterward—in English and Spanish. The training mandate would include topics specific to the restaurant industry, and separate courses for supervisors and non-supervisors, with topics appropriate for each audience. Violators would face fines of up to $500 for the first violation and $1,000 for repeat violations. This bill was previously introduced as AB-3652/SB-900 in 2020. |
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