Compliance
Here Are All of the States and Localities with Compliance Deadlines in October 2024
October 2, 2024 | Lauren Calhoun, Bradley Coffey
Beginning January 1, 2018, Illinois lobbyists and their employers must comply with new sexual harassment compliance rules. Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law Public Act 100-0554 (the Act) to combat sexual harassment in the state legislature. The Act imposes sweeping new requirements on lobbyists even if they are the victims. Press reports detail a number of allegations involving legislators, including some made by lobbyists and activists. One allegation forced the Senate majority caucus chair to step-down from his post. In addition, hundreds of women signed an open letter to bring attention to this pattern of abuse in the state capitol. It appears that discussion of sexual harassment will continue into 2018.
Before the Act, only the Legislative Inspector General could investigate allegations of legislators’ sexual misconduct. That position, however, has been vacant since 2014. Notably, more than two dozen allegations sat uninvestigated on an empty desk. Now, state law authorizes the Secretary of State Inspector General to investigate allegations and the State Executive Ethics Commission to enforce the rules. The legislature, in policing itself, requires lobbyist employers to follow much the same requirements as state agencies in combatting sexual harassment.
Kelley Drye has followed this issue closely and is advising clients on proactive steps they can take to prevent sexual harassment. Stopping the “Harveys in our midst” before they can harm our colleagues or our businesses is more important than ever before. Relying on a generic HR sexual harassment policy is not enough. Employers—not just their registered lobbyists—face new requirements with only weeks to comply.
All lobbyist employers must have a written sexual harassment policy in place no later than January 1, 2018. This applies whether the organization’s Illinois lobbyists are in-house employees or outside consultants. At a minimum, the employer’s sexual harassment policy must include:
Beginning January 1, 2018, registered lobbyists must complete sexual harassment training within 30 days of filing their initial registration (due before lobbying) or annual renewal (due by January 31). The Secretary of State’s office will provide this training online as an additional module to the annual lobbyists’ ethics training program it has administered for years. The Act provides two exemptions, waiving this new training requirement if:
When filing lobbyist registrations or annual renewals, the employer must certify that:
Violations of the Act may be subject to conviction of a business
With only a few weeks until the January 1,
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