About Chicago Ordinance 665 – All about 665, the new Chicago ordinance increasing sexual harassment prevention training requirements for City employers and employees.
Chicago Sexual Harassment Training Training Deadline = June 30th 2023
What is Chicago City Council Ordinance 2022-665 ?
Ordinance 2022-665 is a set of amendments to the Chicago Municipal Code modifying and expanding sexual harassment prohibitions in the City. In addition to definition expansions, posting and written policy requirements, the ordinance implements increased training requirements and training record-keeping requirements, absent which the presumption is that the Employer violated the Ordinance. The ordinance was enacted on April 27, 2022 and became effective as of July 1, 2022.
From a sexual harassment prevention training perspective, the ordinance requires Chicago employers to provide one hour of sexual harassment prevention training to non-supervisory employees, plus one hour of bystander training, every year. Previous Illinois state requirements under SB-75 (which are referenced to be included under the Chicago ordinance) were curriculum-driven by statutory standards rather than applying a time spent requirement. And per the Illinois Department of Human Rights’ FAQs page, all employee types, including short-term, part-time, and interns, were required to be trained under the preexisting state law. The new Chicago ordinance also calls for supervisory and managerial workers to receive two hours of sexual harassment prevention training, plus one hour of bystander training, annually.
The Chicago ordinance does not distinguish specific training elements for bars, restaurants, coffee shops and establishments that serve food that is ready-to-eat. SB-75 previously required that Illinois restaurants and bars must use a specific sexual harassment prevention training tailored to the bar and restaurant industry, and this training also must meet or exceed the standards of the IDHR. Ordinance 2022-665 does call out specific anti-harassment prohibitions for hotels, bed-and-breakfast enterprises, and vacation rentals listed on a platform, however.
For employees hired before the Ordinance 2022-665 came into effect, employers had until June 30, 2023 to get their compliant training delivered. The new city ordinance does not appear to contain a deadline by which newly-hired employees must receive their sexual harassment prevention and bystander training after starting work, however the Illinois Department of Human Rights advises employers to train new hires as soon as possible after they start work, noting that employers are liable for the sexual harassment conduct of new employees immediately upon their hire. The Chicago ordinance does require that the employer’s written policy prohibiting sexual harassment be distributed to new employees within the first calendar week of work.
Ordinance 2022-665 increased the penalties for non compliance. The Ordinance increased the penalties for all forms of discrimination (which previously were $500 to $1,000 per violation and) are now from $5,000 to $10,000 per violation. Also of note is the fact that the new penalties are already in force, having taken effect June 4, 2022.
Disclaimer – Not Legal Advice
While this Solution and our training courses have been developed by experts qualified to provide employee training under relevant state and local law, nothing on this site or in our courses is specifically intended to constitute legal advice or serve as a substitute for qualified counsel with expertise in employment law.
To address specific needs in a particular workplace, Illinois Required Training Solutions strongly advises site users and visitors to consult in-house counsel or retain independent counsel to advise on industry-specific practices and other specifics and applications.
About Chicago Ordinance 665
All about 665, the new Chicago ordinance increasing sexual harassment prevention training requirements for City employers and employees.
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