In June, the New York State Legislature passed a series of bills that would make it easier for employees to sue their employers for discrimination. On August 12, 2019, Governor Cuomo signed the remainder of this legislation into law. Among other things, the amendments New York’s workplace discrimination laws will cover more employers and workers, lower the threshold for unlawful harassment, and add new penalties.
For more details on the new laws, read our initial discussion in New York Employment Discrimination Law Now Covers Everyone.
Or watch a recording of our webinar discussing the amendments.
Below is a quick summary of the changes, including when they will take effect.
All Employers Covered
As of February 8, 2020, the New York Human Rights Law will prohibit all employers from engaging in employment discrimination. Before, most aspects of the law only applied to employers with at least 4 employees.
More Workers Covered
As of October 11, 2019, workplace discrimination protections will extend to more non-employees. This will include contractors, vendors, and consultants working in an employer’s workplace.
Lower Harassment Threshold
Beginning October 11, 2019, harassment will not have to be “severe or pervasive” to be unlawful. The lower standard will make it much easier for employees to prevail on harassment claims.
In addition, the amendment dictates that employees don’t have to show a similarly situated employee who was treated better or that the employee previously complained about harassment without effective action taken by the employer.
Additional Penalties for Employment Discrimination
Also beginning October 11, 2019, successful plaintiffs can recover their attorneys’ fees and punitive damages from employers. Thus, workplace discrimination will become even more costly for employers.
Limitations on Confidentiality Provisions
As of October 11, 2019, employers will no longer be able to request non-disclosure language in settlement agreements that cover employment discrimination claims under New York law. This will be a significant change from current practice.
Confidentiality provisions will only be possible under strict parameters where the employee prefers the protection.
The amendments also prohibit mandatory arbitration of employment discrimination claims. But it’s questionable whether this amendment is legal in light of contradictory federal law.
Sexual Harassment Training
All employers already must provide annual sexual harassment training. The first training must occur by October 9, 2019. But these amendments add additional requirements.
These amendments took effect immediately on August 12, 2019. All employers must now provide employees with a copy of their sexual harassment policy and the information presented during the training. Employees whose primary language is not English must receive these documents in their primary language if model documents are available from the state. This presently includes Bengali, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Italian, Korean, Polish, Russian, and Spanish.
For more on New York’s sexual harassment training requirements, check out our timely update webinar.
More Time to File Sexual Harassment Claims
Beginning August 12, 2020, workers will have three years to file sexual harassment claims with the New York State Division of Human Rights. Until then, they only have one year to file with the administrative agency.
New York Employers Must Act Now to Prevent Workplace Discrimination
Though some of these provisions don’t take effect immediately, all will soon enough. Employers must review the new standards and requirements to ensure future compliance. You can’t prevent all employment discrimination or harassment. But you can take additional measures to try to prevent it and avoid liability.
With some new requirements already in place for sexual harassment training, employers should take such training extremely seriously. You should also seriously consider anti-harassment training regarding all protected categories.