Governor Cuomo has announced that the final official New York State materials for model sexual harassment prevention policies and sexual harassment prevention training for all employers in New York State have been issued.  These final, official materials can now be adopted and used by all dental practices.

Here are some helpful documents: 

1.  Sexual Harassment Prevention – EMPLOYER TOOLKIT – Great document for all employers – step by step instructions and checklists. 
2.  Minimum Standards for Sexual Harassment Prevention Policies – Standards if employer does not adopt the policy offered by NY State, found below. 
3.  Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy Notice – Document/Notice/Posting must be hung in an area where all employees can see and have access to this posting.  Suggestion, hang this notice where your Worker’s Compensation and NYS Disability Notices are posted. 
4. Sexual Harassment Policy – I included the NYS Sexual Harassment Policy in word format so that employers can fill in their name in the spots highlighted along with the name of the chosen point person if a complaint is submitted by an employee.  Have all employees sign off that they have read this policy along with the date the read the policy.  Keep a copy of this signed form in their employee file.  Keep the policy in an employee handbook or manual for easy access to all your employees. 
5. Sexual Harassment Complaint Form– All employees should read this and  have easy access to this complaint form.

Sexual Harassment Training

All employers in NYS are required to provide their employees with sexual harassment training. The training can start anytime (the sooner the better) and must be completed by October 9, 2019 and then occur every year, once a year. Here is the link to the NYS website which provides the minimum standards for training, along with the actual PDF and power point files for the presentation and training that an employer can use to train their employees, in lieu of finding an outside source to do the training. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Here is the link to the NY State’s frequently asked questions on the Sexual Harassment Legislation.  This may be very helpful.