Employee Sexual Harassment Prevention Training – Annual Requirement
The Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) (775 ILCS 5/2-109) requires every Illinois employer to provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees every year. All employers (even those with only one employee) must provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees (including themselves when they are employees of a corporation or LLC) at least once every year.
Is There an Exemption for Small Employers?
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No, there is not an exemption for small employers. If you have even one employee, that employee (even if the employee is you) is required to take the training.
Can I Count the Course I took for my Physician Renewal CME?
Chiropractic physicians (and other licensees) can count CME courses as the employee-required Sexual Harassment Prevention Training (SHPT) course, but only in the year the physician renewal SHPT was taken. Note that employees are mandated to take employee-required SHPT once each year. Therefore, as a chiropractic physician, you would still have to complete employee-required SHPT for each year other than the year in which you completed your physician renewal SHPT.
For example, if you took the ICS (physician renewal) SHPT CME webinar in 2021, it would count only for 2021, and you would need to take an employee-SHPT course in 2022 and again in 2023. If you took the ICS on-demand version in 2023, you can count that as your required employee training for 2023 only.
However, if you did not take the CME course in 2023, you would still be required to take a SHPT course as an employee in 2023.
How Should a Chiropractic Physician Practice Provide Training to Employees?
The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) provides a free model sexual harassment training program that meets the employee training standards in the new law. The IDHR training is available in two formats and free of charge: 1) an online PDF document for download and 2) a 23-minute recorded course.
When allowing employees to read the presentation, employers must ensure that their employees carefully read, review the content, and complete the training. The last page of the PDF is a certificate of participation, and the employee must print, sign, and give the certificate to the employer. Employers must maintain the certificates, either printed or electronically.
If you allow employees to watch the 23-minute recorded course, you will need to create a certificate or use this one from the end of the online PDF document from IDHR.
Although the content of the IDHR course is similar to the content of the physician renewal SHPT CME requirement, the IDHR model course is only 23 minutes long and does not meet the 1-hour CME time requirement. Also, IDFPR does not allow the same course to be taken multiple times for credit. Thus, you cannot take the IDHR course three times to meet the CME credit. The ICS continues to recommend taking a full one-hour CME SHPT course once during each 3-year renewal cycle and counting that course toward your employee requirement in the year that you take it.
- Here is a link to the IDHR readable presentation with a certificate.
- Here is a pre-recorded IDHR 23-minute video.
- IDHR Certificate of Participation.
May Our Office Provide Our Own Training?
As an alternative to the IDHR program, employers may develop or contract for their own sexual harassment prevention training programs, provided they meet or exceed the minimum training standards. The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) has released the training standards here. They include:
- an explanation of sexual harassment consistent with the IHRA;
- examples of conduct that constitutes unlawful sexual harassment;
- a summary of relevant federal and State statutory provisions concerning sexual harassment, including remedies available to victims of sexual harassment; and
- a summary of the responsibilities of employers in the prevention, investigation, and corrective measures of sexual harassment.
The IDHR has published additional information for employers, including a FAQ section here.
Summary
- All employers must provide all employees with SHPT every year.
- If a licensee has taken a physician renewal SHPT CME course in the current year, it should (if it meets all requirements listed above) count for the employee requirement.
- Employers must maintain a record of all employees’ SHPT certificates either electronically or printed.
