Is Your Employee Handbook Up-to-Date?

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 Resources insurance executives should give careful consideration to how paid family leave interacts with other potential leaves of absence, including under the FMLA, vacation or paid time off, and short-term disability. In addition, if your policy specifies the number of weeks of available leave or the maximum payment rates, it will need to be updated to reflect the 2019 benefit increases.

Does Your EEO Statement Capture All Protected Classes?

Many states have broadened the definitions of “sexual orientation” and “gender” under various anti-discrimination laws common in the northeast.

Sexual Orientation: Under some expansive new definitions, “sexual orientation” is defined as “an individual’s actual or perceived romantic, physical or sexual attraction to other persons, or lack thereof, on the basis of gender.”

Gender: New, broader definitions
define “gender” as “actual or perceived sex, gender identity, and gender expression including a person’s actual or perceived gender-related self-image, appearance, behavior, expression, or other gender-related characteristic, regardless of the sex assigned to that person at birth.”

In late 2018, the New York City Council approved a bill to prohibit employment discrimination and discriminatory harassment or violence based on an individual’s reproductive health choices.

On January 25, 2019, New York State passed the Gender Expression Non-discrimination Act (“GENDA”), which extends protections for transgender and nongender-conforming persons by explicitly adding gender identity and expression as a protected class under the New York Human Rights Law.  Employers should ensure these new definitions are reflected in their Employee Handbook’s EEO statement and any other discrimination, harassment, or retaliation policies applicable in your state.

Is Your Handbook Ready for 2019?

Employee Handbooks and policies received a lot of recent attention in many states.  We predict there will be even more changes to come in 2019.  Insurance industry executives must be on their toes by constantly reviewing your Employee Handbook to ensure you are in compliance with the ever-changing employment law landscape.