Press Releases
04/16/2018
Gov. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Wyman Hail Committee Approval of Legislation Strengthening Workplace Harassment Laws
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman are applauding the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee for voting unanimously tonight to approve legislation the Governor proposed that expands Connecticut’s existing workplace harassment laws to better address today’s challenges.
The legislation – House Bill 5043, An Act Promoting a Civil, Fair, and Harassment-Free Workplace – was introduced as brave women and men across the nation come forward to tell their experiences of sexual harassment in the workplace.
“Adopting these proposals is not only good for people and good for business – it’s the right thing to do,” Governor Malloy said. “Making Connecticut a stronger, fairer place to work will make our state a more attractive place to live, improve our workforce, and make our state more competitive. The bottom line is while our state has been a leader on this issue, we must continue to strive to ensure that our policies are effective in creating an open and respectful workplace culture. The overwhelming, bipartisan response to this bill shows just how important this issue is to our state, and I want to thank legislators from both sides of the aisle for working together to get this done.”
“The era of looking the other way is finally at an end and I join tens of millions of women, and men, celebrating the change in culture brought about by women standing up, speaking out, and demanding respect in the workplace,” Lt. Governor Wyman said. “Sexual harassment has damaged the very people who are the backbone of our workforce – it’s had a chilling impact on individual careers and across all sectors of our economy, and it’s gone unchecked and without meaningful sanction for too long. Every employee should be empowered to protect themselves from harassment. I thank the Appropriations Committee for their commitment to safer workplaces for all.”
The proposal seeks to update Connecticut’s existing anti-harassment training requirements by:
- Requiring all employers with three or more employees to annually communicate to their employees the illegality of harassment on the basis of protected class and the remedies available to targets of such harassment;
- Extending and enhancing awareness and anti-harassment compliance training to any employers with 15 or more employees in pursuit of improved workplace civility; and
- Updating the content of anti-harassment training to include content that encourages bystander intervention and types of conduct that constitute and do not constitute harassment and strategies to prevent harassment.
It next moves to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
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