1 of 1
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 848 FILED ON: 1/13/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2190
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Christopher J. Worrell
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to sexual harassment workplace training.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Christopher J. Worrell5th Suffolk1/13/2025Jason M. LewisFifth Middlesex2/21/2025Kathleen R. LaNatra12th Plymouth2/21/2025Sean Reid11th Essex2/21/2025James Arciero2nd Middlesex2/24/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester2/24/2025Kevin G. Honan17th Suffolk3/4/2025Sean Garballey23rd Middlesex3/12/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk3/12/2025 1 of 5
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 848 FILED ON: 1/13/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2190
By Representative Worrell of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2190) of
Christopher J. Worrell and others relative to employer policies and training to prevent unlawful
harassment, including sexual harassment. Labor and Workforce Development.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act relative to sexual harassment workplace training.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Chapter 151B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby
2amended by striking out Section 3A and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
3 Section 3A: Employers' policies against harassment; preparation of model policy;
4education and training programs
5 (a) All employers, employment agencies and labor organizations shall promote a
6workplace free of all forms of unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment.
7 (b) Every employer shall:
8 (1) adopt a policy against unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment, which shall
9include:
10 (i) a statement that all forms of unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment, in the
11workplace are unlawful and will not be tolerated, and that explains that it is unlawful for a person 2 of 5
12to be subject to harassment because of the person’s sex or any other characteristic protected by
13section 4 of this chapter;
14 (ii) a statement that it is unlawful to retaliate against an employee for filing a complaint
15of unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment, or for cooperating in an investigation of a
16complaint for unlawful harassment;
17 (iii) a description and examples of unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment;
18 (iv) a statement of the range of consequences for employees who are found to have
19committed unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment;
20 (v) a description of the process for filing internal complaints about harassment and the
21contact information of the person or persons to whom complaints should be made; and
22 (vi) the identity of the appropriate state and federal employment discrimination
23enforcement agencies, and directions as to how to contact such agencies.
24 (2) provide to all employees an individual written copy of the employer's policy against
25unlawful harassment by January 1, 2027; provided, however, that an existing employee that is
26changing positions shall be provided a copy at such time of the change in position; provided
27further that a new employee shall be provided such a copy at the time of hire.
28 (c) The commission shall prepare and make available to employers subject to this section
29a model policy and poster consistent with federal and state statutes and regulations, which may
30be used by employers for the purposes of this section.
31 (d) An employer's failure to provide the information required to be provided by this
32section shall not, in and of itself, result in the liability of said employer to any current or former 3 of 5
33employee or applicant in any action alleging unlawful harassment. An employer's compliance
34with the notice requirements of this section shall not, in and of itself, protect the employer from
35liability for unlawful harassment of any current or former employee or applicant.
36 (e) Employers and labor organizations are required to provide employees with training to
37prevent unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment, within six months after the employee
38is hired, promoted within the employer. An employer that does not use the model training
39developed by the Massachusetts commission against discrimination must ensure that the training
40that they use meets or exceeds the following minimum standards.
41 The training must:
42 (1) be focused on compliance with the legal requirements of employment non-
43discrimination law and on preventing unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment, in the
44workplace;
45 (2) include an interactive component, whether in-person, on-line, or remote; provided that
46trainings are led by one or more qualified trainers which allows participants to ask questions and
47receive answers in a timely fashion; and in the case of on-line trainings, the online program must
48allow participants to ask questions anonymously about the topics covered in the training and
49receive responses from the trainer(s) within two business days;
50 (3) be a minimum of one hour every year;
51 (4) include an explanation and examples of unlawful harassment and unlawful retaliation
52consistent with guidance issued by the Massachusetts commission against discrimination; 4 of 5
53provided, however, that for employers with 100 or more employees, the examples and scenarios
54should be tailored to the specific type of workplace or industry;
55 (5) include information on internal and external remedies available to victims of
56harassment;
57 (6) include bystander intervention training consistent with guidance issued by the
58Massachusetts commission against discrimination; and
59 (7) include information on the responsibilities of supervisory and managerial employees
60to address unlawful harassment and unlawful retaliation.
61 (8) include, in the case of on-line training, standards and requirements that demonstrate
62the active participation of the employee in the training, such as showing time spent watching
63videos, answering questions and otherwise, engaging in the program. On-line trainings shall also
64include the ability of employees to ask anonymous questions about the topic and receive
65responses from the trainer(s) within two business days. The employer shall maintain a record of
66the employee questions asked and the responses provided for a minimum of five (5) years, while
67preserving the anonymity of the employees.
68 Each employee must receive training on an annual basis, starting January 1, 2027. An
69employer’s or labor organization’s compliance with the training requirements of this section
70shall not, in and of itself, protect the employer or labor organization from liability for unlawful
71harassment of any current or former employee or applicant. All employers shall keep a record of
72their employees’ completion of all trainings required by this subsection (e). Such records may be
73electronic. Employers shall maintain such records for at least 5 years and must be made available
74to the Attorney General or the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination on request. 5 of 5
75 (f) The Attorney General may promulgate any rules, regulations or guidelines that are
76necessary and appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this section.