Effective October 1, 2024, managers can choose to attend the District of Columbia’s (DC) required sexual harassment training online. Previously, managers were required to attend in-person training, whereas non-managerial employees could complete training online or in person.
For background, the Tipped Wage Workers Fairness Amendment Act of 2018 (“the Act”) amended the District of Columbia Human Rights Act of 1977, requiring employers in DC who hire tipped workers to provide sexual harassment training to all employees, including managers, owners, or operators of that organization.
All managers and employees must complete sexual harassment prevention training at least once every two years, while new hires must be trained within 90 days of hire (unless they received the required training from an Office of Human Rights (OHR) approved trainer in the last two years). This requirement is part of the District’s efforts to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. The law also requires employers to have a sexual harassment policy and internal complaint procedures.
Whether in-person or online the training must still be conducted by a certified trainer from the OHR-provided list. Employers must certify to OHR that an employee has completed the training no later than 30 business days after they have done so. According to OHR, the certified trainer the employer uses will provide a template of the report that can be emailed to tipsdc@dc.gov to satisfy this requirement.
Next Steps
Employers should review their sexual harassment policy to ensure it includes all the required components under the law and update it as needed. Covered employers should ensure that they distribute their sexual harassment policy to all employees and that it is posted in the workplace in a prominent location that is accessible to employees.
Employers also should ensure that they are consistently documenting (and investigating) any complaints of sexual harassment to comply with the reporting requirements. The reporting must include the number of sexual harassment complaints and the number of accused harassers broken down by non-managerial employees, managerial employees, owners, and operators. Employers must use OHR’s portal to provide this information.
