Clear Law Institute, LLC: New Illinois Annual Sexual Harassment Training Requirements

New Illinois Annual Sexual Harassment Training Requirements

In response to the #MeToo movement, the Illinois legislature passed Senate Bill 75 and House Bill 252, as proactive measures to prevent harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Illinois Governor, J. B. Pritzker, is expected to sign both bills into law soon, allowing employers the opportunity to evaluate and update their sexual harassment training and prevention practices.

Senate Bill 75 requires employers in Illinois (with one or more employees) to provide workplace sexual harassment training to all employees annually. The training requirement law becomes effective January 1, 2020, with initial training required to be completed by January 1, 2021.

House Bill 252, effective July 1, 2020, amends the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) to create a lower threshold for how “employer” is defined. Employers are now defined as “any person employing one or more employees within Illinois during 20 or more calendar weeks within the calendar year of or preceding the alleged violation,” excluding individuals employed by places of worship to perform connected religious work or activities. Previously, the IHRA defined employers as those employing 15 or more employees within Illinois.

Here is what employers should know to ensure compliance:

All employees must be trained each year.
Annual required sexual harassment training programs should include the following content:
- An explanation of sexual harassment
- Examples of conduct that constitutes unlawful sexual harassment
- A summary of federal and state statutory provisions, including remedies available to victims of sexual harassment
- A summary of the responsibilities of employers for prevention, investigation, and corrective measures of sexual harassment.

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The law defines “harassment” as “any unwelcome conduct on the basis of an individual’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, order of protection status, disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, unfavorable discharge for military service, or citizenship status that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with the individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.”
- - A “working environment” is not restricted to a physical location.
An employer is legally responsible for harassment of its nonmanagerial and nonsupervisory employees if the employer was aware of the conduct and failed to take reasonable corrective measures.
By July 1, 2020, and each July 1 after, employers are required to disclose to the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) the total number of final adverse administrative rulings or judgments in the previous year, including details of any relief. Employers may also be required to disclose during an investigation the total number of settlements entered into during the previous 5 years related to any alleged act of sexual harassment or unlawful discrimination.
Employers must allow victims of domestic, sexual, or gender violence to take unpaid leave to seek medical help, legal assistance, counseling, safety planning, and other assistance without penalty – if requested. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee who is a victim, or any employee who has a family or household member who is a victim.
- Employers with 50 or more employees may be required to provide victims with a maximum total of 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period.
- Employers with at least 1-14 employees may be required to provide victims with a maximum total of 4 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period.
Employers who do not provide compliant training will be subject to civil penalties, including a $500 penalty to businesses with less than 4 employees, or a $1,000 penalty to those with 4 or more employees.
Impact to industry-specific employers:
Bar and restaurant owners are required to provide a supplemental training program annually to all employees (regardless of employee classification), available in both English and Spanish, specifically aimed at the prevention of sexual harassment in the restaurant and bar industry.
- Employers must also provide employees with the company’s sexual harassment policy and instructions on how to report sexual harassment incidents within the first week of hire.
Casino and hotel owners are required to provide portable safety notification devices (at no cost) to employees who frequently work alone in restrooms, guest rooms, casino floors, or other isolated spaces. The safety device must allow them to call for help if they fear their safety or witness sexual assault or harassment.
- Employers must also provide all employees with a current copy of the hotel or casino’s anti-sexual harassment policy (including reporting procedures and the prohibition against retaliation) and post the policy in clearly visible areas of the hotel or casino, both in English and Spanish.

The Illinois Department of Human Rights will develop a free online model sexual harassment training program, including the minimum requirements as stated above. Employers can choose to use this program, or establish its own sexual harassment prevention training program that equals or exceeds this “minimum standard.” Of course, for many employers, ensuring that the training is interactive and accurate will be challenging. Many employers may not have anyone with the appropriate level of expertise to facilitate the required harassment training and answer questions from employees about harassment issues. An employer who provides the training with an unqualified facilitator runs the risk of providing non-compliant training and having the facilitator give inaccurate guidance. Most employers likely will turn to a third party with expertise in training on sexual harassment prevention, such as Clear Law Institute.

Why Clear Law Institute?

Hundreds of employers rely on Clear Law Institute to provide online sexual harassment training to their employees across the country, given that our training:

Complies with all 50 states’ laws, including Illinois
Provides users with the ability to ask questions and have those questions answered within two business days, as required by other states’ laws
Is kept up-to-date with any changes in the law at no additional charge
Utilizes cutting-edge instructional design principles
Efficiently tracks who has and who has not completed the training each year, as handled by Clear Law’s Learning Management System. This prevents employers from having to collect and track certificates manually.

What if the law changes and my organization’s training courses need to be updated?

If needed, Clear Law will modify its training to comply with any changes in Illinois’ laws at no additional cost. Clear Law Institute’s hundreds of clients can sleep well knowing that we monitor laws around the country to ensure that our training stays up-to-date with changes in the law.

Where can I learn more?

Clear Law Institute continually monitors updates to federal and state laws to ensure that its online training is legally accurate and up-to-date. Clear Law Institute’s online course, Preventing Workplace Harassment, is used by hundreds of employers across the nation, including several Fortune 500 companies. Learn more about Preventing Workplace Harassment and view a free course demo.

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