The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) recently extended the deadline for employers to conduct mandatory sexual harassment training by 90 days. The extension applies to employees hired after the October 1, 2019 enactment of Connecticut “Time’s Up Act.” For an employer to avail itself of the extension, it will have to explain exactly how COVID-19 precluded training. Neither cost nor mobility should be hurdles, as the CHRO provides free, remote, online training that satisfies statutory requirements.
We outlined the Time’s Up Act’s mandatory sexual harassment training rules last September. As a reminder, all employers must provide training for supervisors, and employers with three or more employees must provide training for everyone. Employees whose tenure predated October 1, 2019 should have completed their training by April 1, 2020. Failure to provide sexual harassment training can lead to CHRO discrimination charges and up to a $750 fine.
For interested employers, the CHRO plans to host a series of live COVID-19-specific informational webinars. The first is scheduled for April 21, 2020 at 10:00 am, and you can register here.
Other CHRO-relevant updates include: in-person meetings remain cancelled until further notice, mediations and fact-finding conferences are taking place via phone or video conference where possible, and the CHRO is granting 30-day continuance requests for answers, mandatory mediation and fact-finding conferences, and document request compliance.
The CHRO is also entertaining requests for 45-day extensions to normal filing dates for affirmative action or contract compliance plans.
