Connecticut Extends Deadline to Conduct Sexual Harassment Training Until January 1, 2021

The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (“CHRO”) recently extended the deadline for employers to provide sexual harassment training for their employees, from October 1, 2020, to January 1, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CHRO announcement is available here.

The CHRO website states that this is a blanket extension, and employers do not need to make a request to obtain the extension. Previously, the CHRO announced a 90-day extension for employers, under limited circumstances, which required employers to make a written request to the CHRO seeking an extension and to provide the reasons why an extension was necessary.

The “Act Combatting Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment” (“Act”), which took effect on October 1, 2019, and which we reported about in detail here, significantly expanded the obligations of employers to provide training and education regarding sexual harassment and available remedies. Pursuant to the Act, employers of three or more employees are now required to provide two hours of such training to all employees. Employers with less than three employees must provide two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to supervisors only. Previously, only employers with 50 or more employees were required to provide supervisors with two hours of training on state and federal sexual harassment laws.