Is Your Employee Handbook Up-to-Date?

• Author: DeMaria, Alfred T.
• Position: [HR UPDATE]

New York State insurance industry executives need to ensure that your Employee Handbooks and other policies are up-to-date with recent legislation mandating new requirements for New York employers.

ARE YOUR ANTI-HARASSMENT POLICIES UP TO DATE?

Both New York State and New York City enacted more stringent requirements related to sexual harassment prevention and training. While most employers already had policies regarding the prohibition of sexual and other forms of harassment, if they did not update those policies in 2018, they are likely not in compliance with the specific requirements of the new laws.

New York state employers are now required to provide annual training to all employees regarding sexual harassment, adopt and distribute a written sexual harassment prevention policy, and provide to employees a complaint form for reporting sexual harassment.

New York City also passed a similar law in 2018. The Stop Sexual Harassment in New York City Act provides that all employers, regardless of size, will be subject to the New York City Human Rights Law's ("NYCHRL") prohibition on gender-based harassment. The city law also requires all employers to display a poster and distribute an information sheet on sexual harassment to new employees at the time of hire.

As the requirements for these new sexual harassment laws are rather extensive and the guidance concerning these new laws has been updated multiple times since their initial passage, employers are encouraged to carefully review their sexual harassment policies--even if their policies were recently updated--to ensure they comply with both the State's and the City's most recent iterations of guidance. Other states have similar rules and should be consulted.

DOES YOUR HANDBOOK INCLUDE REFERENCES TO YOUR STATE'S PAID FAMILY LEAVE LAW?

2019 brings new changes to the New York PFL. Beginning January 1, 2019, eligible employees are entitled to a total of ten weeks of paid family leave during any given fifty-two week period, a two-week increase from the 2018 benefit. During the 2019 calendar year, an employee is entitled to a maximum of fifty-five percent of the employee's average weekly wage, maxing out at $746.41. The number of weeks of leave and payment amounts are scheduled to continue, escalating until 2021.

The PFL requires each employer to publish a written policy detailing employees' rights and obligations under the PFL.

When drafting a PFL policy suitable to the laws in your state, Human...