The City Council approved enhancements introduced by Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and the Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR) to Chicago’s sexual harassment laws, which will bring new training requirements for all employers and increase the penalty for those who sexually harass their staff or colleagues. According to FUTURES Without Violence, 4 in 5 women and 16 percent of men experience sexual harassment in the workplace and it remains severely underreported. As part of the City’s Human Rights Ordinance, CCHR investigates complaints of sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination. Overall, the enhancements include:

• Adding sexual misconduct to the definition. Sexual misconduct is defined as any behavior of a sexual nature which also involves coercion, abuse of authority, or misuse of an individual’s employment position

• Requiring all employers to have a written policy on sexual harassment

• Requiring all employers to post a written notice on sexual harassment

• Increasing the statute of limitations from 300 to 365 days

• Creates flexibility to notify a respondent up to 30 days from the time of complaint (compared to 10 days currently), to mitigate any retaliation such as denial of a reasonable accommodation request.

• Increasing the penalty for individuals or businesses that participate in discriminatory practices in the workplace including sexual harassment. The penalty is increasing from $500 to $1,000 per violation to $5,000 to $10,000.