More than four months after the Illinois Workplace Transparency
Act (WTA) went into effect, the Illinois Department of Human Rights
(IDHR) has now uploaded onto its website the "model"
sexual harassment training required under the WTA for all employers
(it can be accessed here).
Now that employers can and must begin preparing to comply with the
new training requirements, employers should consider whether this
model training is enough to effectively combat sexual harassment
and how best to implement it. Unfortunately, although many
employers were expecting a form of self-contained online training,
such as a video or some other type of computer-based presentation,
the IDHR simply published a set of PowerPoint slides. (One initial
word of caution is that the IDHR also offers free online training
on a variety of topics on its website, including sexual harassment;
however, these training programs are not intended
to be the sexual harassment training required under the WTA.)
