ATSSA’s sexual harassment prevention training meets state requirements

In an era when the #MeToo movement has garnered widespread attention, employers need to be vigilant to make sure everyone on their team understands what sexual harassment is, how to avoid it and, should it occur, how to report it.

ATSSA’s new online Workplace Training provides a quick, simple and cost-effective solution and includes courses for specific states to meet their individual requirements.

Launched in mid-March, the Workplace Training curriculum covers a variety of human resources topics as well as workplace safety issues that comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.

Courses are entirely online, generally take 20-30 minutes and can be taken at the person’s convenience from anywhere. Students receive a certificate of completion via email after a course is successfully finished.

The curriculum covers issues requested by members and kicked off with “Acute Respiratory Illness Pandemics: Prevention and Response” to address concerns related to COVID-19. That course was offered free to members and has been taken by hundreds of people since then, said Training Development Manager Karen Jones.

"We've been pleased by the interest in this new curriculum,” said Vice President of Member Services Donna Clark. “Our goal was to provide courses that were relevant and needed by our members. Awareness of the dynamics of sexual harassment is always important for every company.”

ATSSA recognizes that members in several states have pending deadlines to complete sexual harassment prevention training in the coming months and provided a breakdown of those requirements.

“We didn’t want anyone to miss these important deadlines,” said Director of Training Rameeza Shaikh.

Below is a list of state-specific requirements coming up within the next few months.

STATE-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

• California – Effective Jan. 1, 2020, employers must provide sexual harassment prevention training to temporary or seasonal employees within 30 calendar days after the hire.
• Connecticut - Employers with three or more employees must provide all existing employees with two hours of training by Oct. 1, 2020.
• Delaware - Employers with 50 or more employees must provide employees with interactive training. This was effective in January 2019, but the training for employees and supervisors must be repeated every two years, so re-training should be completed soon.
• Illinois – Effective Jan. 1, 2020, employers with 15 or more employees must provide this training at least once a year.
• Maine - Employers with 15 or more employees must have this training for all employees, including supervisors, within one year of their start date.
• New York – Every employer was required to provide employees with sexual harassment prevention training by Oct. 9, 2019 and annually thereafter.