For Managers and Small Employers: What New York Workplace Law Expects of You

Several New York State workplace rules reach employers of every size. The New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) covers all employers within the state, and New York State's sexual harassment policy and training law applies to every employer.⁠^[1][11] This page collects the duties that fall on owners, managers and supervisors, with the layer of law named for each one. It is a reference list, not a compliance program.

Which laws apply to a business my size?

Law	Layer	Who is covered
Title VII and the ADA	Federal	Employers with 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.⁠[12][13]
NYSHRL	New York State	All employers within the state. The earlier exclusion of employers with fewer than four employees was deleted by a 2019 amendment effective on the 180th day after it became law (in 2020), for claims accruing on or after that date.⁠[1][14][15]
Labor Law § 201-g (sexual harassment policy and training)	New York State	Every employer, including a household employing one person.⁠[11]
Labor Law § 740 (whistleblower protection)	New York State	Any employer with one or more employees.⁠[16]
New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)	New York City	For most employment provisions, every employer except one that had fewer than four persons in its employ at all times from twelve months before the practice began through its end. Independent contractors count toward the four.⁠[17][18]
NYCHRL, gender-based harassment	New York City	Any employer, including one with fewer than four persons.⁠[19]
NYCHRL, domestic workers	New York City	A person who employs one or more domestic workers, without regard to the number of other employees.⁠[20]

More detail is in which employers are covered and harassment and discrimination at small businesses.

What policy and training does New York State require?

Under New York State's Labor Law, every employer must adopt the State's model sexual harassment prevention policy or its own policy that equals or exceeds the model's minimum standards, and must provide the policy to all employees in writing.⁠^[2] The statute lists what the policy has to contain, including examples of prohibited conduct, a standard complaint form, a procedure for the timely and confidential investigation of complaints, information on employees' rights of redress, and clear statements that sanctions will be enforced against harassers and against supervisors who knowingly allow harassment to continue, and that retaliation is unlawful.⁠^[21]

Training is a separate State duty:

• Every employer must provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees on an annual basis.⁠^[3]
• The training must be interactive and must cover an explanation of sexual harassment, examples, the federal and State law and remedies, and employees' rights of redress; it must also address conduct by supervisors.⁠^[22]
• The State says watching a video or reading a document with no feedback mechanism is not interactive.⁠^[23]
• For the State rule, "employee" includes part-time, seasonal and temporary workers, regardless of immigration status.⁠^[24]
• At hiring and at every annual training, the employer must give each employee a written notice containing the policy and the training information, in English and in the language the employee identifies as their primary language.⁠^[25]
• The State says employers must follow federal regulations that generally require employer-provided training time to be counted as regular work hours.⁠^[26]
• State law does not require a signed acknowledgment, but the State encourages employers to keep one along with training records.⁠^[27]

The State says employers are not required to provide the policy to independent contractors, vendors or consultants, but that an employer can be liable under the NYSHRL for those workers' actions in its workplace.⁠^[28] An employee whose employer has not provided a policy or annual training can file a complaint with the New York State Department of Labor.⁠^[29] See policy and training requirements and the model policy, section by section.

What does New York City add?

• Annual training. Employers with 15 or more employees must conduct annual interactive anti-sexual harassment training for all employees employed in New York City, including supervisors and managers.⁠^[30]
• New hires. The City training is required after 90 days of initial hire for employees who work more than 80 hours in a calendar year, full-time or part-time, and interns count as employees.⁠^[31]
• Records. Employers must keep a record of all trainings, including a signed employee acknowledgment, for at least three years.⁠^[32]
• Poster. Every employer must conspicuously display the NYC Commission on Human Rights anti-sexual harassment rights and responsibilities poster in English and Spanish.⁠^[33]
• Information sheet. Employers must distribute the Commission's sexual harassment information sheet to individual employees at the time of hire; it may be included in a handbook.⁠^[34]

The NYC Commission on Human Rights says its free online training satisfies both the New York State and New York City training requirements.⁠^[35]

What notices and postings are required?

Notice	Layer	The rule
Division of Human Rights notice	New York State	Every employer subject to the NYSHRL must post the notices furnished by the Division of Human Rights conspicuously, in easily accessible and well-lighted places customarily frequented by employees and applicants.⁠[36]
Whistleblower notice	New York State	Every employer must inform employees of their protections, rights and obligations under Labor Law § 740 by posting a notice.⁠[37]
Electronic monitoring notice	New York State	A private employer that monitors employees' telephone, email or internet use must give prior written notice on hiring and post the notice.⁠[38]
Wage statement	New York State	Every employer must furnish each employee with a statement with every payment of wages.⁠[39]
Termination notice	New York State	Written notice of the exact date of termination and the exact date benefits are canceled, no more than five working days after the termination date.⁠[40]
Unemployment notice	New York State	An employer liable for unemployment contributions must inform each employee in writing of the right to file for benefits at each separation or reduction in hours.⁠[41]

This table covers the notices described in this library. It is not a full list of every posting a New York employer may need.

What is expected of supervisors when they see or hear about harassment?

New York State's model policy says that any employee who witnesses harassment is encouraged to report it, and that a supervisor or manager who witnesses it is required to report it.⁠^[4] It adds that managers and supervisors should not be passive and wait for an employee to make a claim, and that they can be disciplined for failing to report suspected sexual harassment or for allowing it to continue after they know about it.⁠^[5] Under the model policy an employee does not have to use the written complaint form; a verbal complaint or an email is treated with equal priority.⁠^[42] The model investigation procedure calls for a prompt and thorough investigation, kept confidential to the extent possible.⁠^[43]

The rules on when an employer answers for harassment explain why supervisor knowledge matters, and they differ by layer:

• New York City. An employer is liable for discrimination or harassment by an employee or agent who exercised managerial or supervisory responsibility.⁠^[44] For a non-supervisory employee, the employer is liable if it knew and acquiesced or failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action, and it is deemed to know what a manager or supervisor knew.⁠^[45]
• Federal. Under Title VII an employer is vicariously liable for a hostile environment created by a supervisor, subject to an affirmative defense in some cases.⁠^[46] For co-worker harassment the employer is liable if it was negligent, which in the Second Circuit means it failed to provide a reasonable avenue for complaint or knew, or should have known, about the harassment and failed to take appropriate remedial action.⁠^[47][48]
• New York State. The NYSHRL says an employee's failure to complain shall not be determinative of whether the employer is liable.⁠^[49]

See supervisor versus co-worker harassment and what happens in an HR investigation.

How should an accommodation request be handled?

Federal, New York State and New York City law each impose an accommodation duty, with different procedures.

• New York State. It is an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to refuse to provide reasonable accommodations to the known disabilities or pregnancy-related conditions of an employee or prospective employee.⁠^[50] Under the State regulation the employer has a duty to move forward to consider accommodation once the need is known or requested, and to clearly request any documentation that is needed; the employee has a right to have medical information kept confidential.⁠^[51]
• New York City. It is an unlawful discriminatory practice to refuse or fail to engage in a cooperative dialogue within a reasonable time with a person who has requested an accommodation or who the employer has notice may require one.⁠^[6] The dialogue is a good-faith written or oral exchange about the person's needs, potential accommodations and the difficulties they may pose.⁠^[52] At its end the employer must provide a written final determination identifying any accommodation granted or denied.⁠^[53] The employer has the burden of proving undue hardship.⁠^[54]
• Federal. Under the ADA, discrimination includes not making reasonable accommodations to the known limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee, unless the employer can demonstrate undue hardship.⁠^[55] The EEOC regulation says it may be necessary for the employer to initiate an informal, interactive process with the individual.⁠^[56]

Requesting an accommodation is itself protected. The NYSHRL has listed it expressly as protected activity since an amendment signed on December 5, 2025, which took effect immediately and applies to actions filed on or after that date; the NYC Commission on Human Rights gives November 11, 2019, as the effective date of the City amendment.⁠^[57][58] See the interactive process and cooperative dialogue and reasonable accommodation.

What does "no retaliation" mean in practice?

Each layer has its own retaliation provision. Title VII bars discrimination against an employee or applicant for opposing an unlawful practice or participating in a proceeding.⁠^[7] The NYSHRL bars any person covered by the section from retaliating against a person for opposing forbidden practices, filing a complaint, testifying or assisting, or requesting a reasonable accommodation.⁠^[8] The NYCHRL bars retaliation "in any manner," and the act need not be an ultimate action or a materially adverse change, so long as it is reasonably likely to deter a person from engaging in protected activity.⁠^[9]

Four further points:

• Under Title VII in the Second Circuit, informal complaints to management count as protected opposition.⁠^[59]
• Under the NYSHRL, retaliation may include disclosing an employee's personnel files because of protected activity, and the Attorney General has power to bring a court action over retaliation by an employer.⁠^[60][61]
• Under the NYCHRL, an employer is liable for violations other than discrimination under subdivisions 1 and 2, retaliation among them, based on the conduct of an employee or agent.⁠^[10]
• Under federal law, the EEOC's 2016 guidance, which does not have the force of law, says that if an employee's protests render the employee ineffective in the job, the retaliation provisions do not immunize the employee from appropriate discipline or discharge.⁠^[62][63]

The guides on what counts as a retaliatory act and performance plans after a complaint apply these tests.

Can a manager or owner be personally responsible?

It depends on the layer. In the Second Circuit, individual defendants with supervisory control may not be held personally liable under Title VII.⁠^[64] Under the NYSHRL, the Court of Appeals has said that a corporate employee is not individually liable as an "employer," while the statute makes it unlawful for any person to aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce a forbidden act.⁠^[65][66] Under the NYCHRL, where the employer is a business entity, its shareholders, agents and employees are not "employers," but individuals may incur liability for their own discriminatory conduct, for aiding and abetting such conduct by others, or for retaliation.⁠^[67][68] See personal liability of supervisors.

What people get wrong

• "A policy in the handbook is a defense." New York State's model policy says adoption does not constitute a defense.⁠^[69] The Court of Appeals has held that the federal Faragher/Ellerth defense does not apply under the NYCHRL.⁠^[70]
• "A fine is the only exposure." Under the NYSHRL the Division of Human Rights may assess civil fines of up to $50,000, or up to $100,000 for a willful, wanton or malicious act, and punitive damages are available against private employers.⁠^[71][72] The NYC Commission on Human Rights may impose a civil penalty of up to $125,000, or up to $250,000 for a willful, wanton or malicious act.⁠^[73] Damages are covered in damages in New York employment cases.

For the arguments employers raise once a claim is filed, see common employer defenses.