SELECTING A SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINER IN VIRGINIA
Selecting a Sexual Harassment training in Virginia is an effective way to prevent problems before they occur, while inspiring and motivating employees to perform better, increasing professionalism while creating a fun, very interactive learning experience.
Training companies, such as MVP Seminars and Employee Harassment Training can help book your selected Harassment trainer who will personalize the training specifically to relate to the specific business & any issues that HR would like discussed. Our MVP Sexual Harassment training seminars are available in the following Virginia cities: Virginia Beach, Chesapeake & Norfolk
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Benefits of Sexual Harassment Seminar Training in Virginia
As the 2023 Virginia legislative session comes to a close, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed into law two new pieces of legislation that will expand the Commonwealth’s existing restriction on employee confidentiality agreements and restrict how employers may use employee social security numbers. Both new laws go into effect July 1, 2023.
Expanded prohibition on confidentiality and non-disparagement agreements
In 2019, Virginia enacted Va. Code § 40.1-28.01, which prohibits employers from requiring an employee or prospective employee to agree to a confidentiality agreement as a condition of employment that has the purpose or effect of concealing details related to a claim of sexual assault as defined in certain provisions of the Virginia criminal code (namely, rape, forcible sodomy, or sexual battery).
On March 26, 2023, the Governor signed H.B. 1895, which: (1) expands the coverage of the law to include claims of sexual harassment as defined in Va. Code § 30-129.4 (“unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when such conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment”), and also (2) prohibits non-disparagement agreements that have the purpose or effect of concealing details related to a claim of sexual assault or sexual harassment.
Like the original law, the expanded statute only applies to agreements with current and prospective employees and those agreements that are “a condition of employment,” and therefore does not cover post-employment settlement agreements. Apart from these Virginia-specific developments, employers should also be mindful of the NLRB’s recent action on non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions that we previously covered with important FAQs.
Virginia Sexual Harassment Updates
Three new Virginia employment laws become effective July 1, 2023, and Virginia employers must understand and comply with these new rules. Virginia employers will need to update employee handbooks and confidentiality agreements, as well as change certain personnel practices to address these new state requirements.
Speak Out Laws:
There is currently a nationwide campaign to pass state and federal “Speak Out” laws. These laws prohibit employment contract provisions that restrict employees’ ability to communicate about certain incidents of sexual harassment or sexual assault (although some other state laws have an even broader application).
Virginia passed its own version of the “Speak Out Act,” which goes into effect July 1, 2023. The new Virginia version is different from the federal version that became law in December 2022. Due to these differences, employers must consider both the federal version and Virginia version when crafting confidentiality, severance, and settlement agreements.
The federal Speak Out Act provides that “[w]ith respect to a sexual assault dispute or sexual harassment dispute, no nondisclosure clause or nondisparagement clause agreed to before the dispute arises shall be judicially enforceable in instances in which conduct is alleged to have violated Federal, Tribal or State law.” (emphasis added). The federal statute therefore renders unenforceable nondisclosures and nondisparagement provisions that were signed before a dispute arose regarding sexual assault or sexual harassment, but not after.
The Virginia version states the prohibition against nondisclosure and nondisparagement in different and potentially more expansive terms. Instead of a statute that on-its-face is limited to pre-dispute agreements, the Virginia version arguably applies to post-dispute agreements too (i.e., settlement agreements). The Virginia version states that:
[n]o employer shall require an employee or a prospective employee to execute or renew any provision in a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement, including any provision relating to nondisparagement, that has the purpose or effect of concealing the details relating to a claim of sexual assault pursuant to § 18.2-61, 18.2-67.1, 18.2-67.3, or 18.2-67.4 or a claim of sexual harassment as defined in § 30-129.4 as a condition of employment. Any such provision is against public policy and is void and unenforceable.
House Bill 1895, to amend and reenact Va. Code § 40.1-28.01
Virginia Cities offering onsite Sexual Harassment training seminars
Virginia Beach: Hilton Hotel
3001 Atlantic Ave, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Chesapeake: Hilton Hotel
1565 Crossways Blvd, Chesapeake, VA 23320
Norfolk: Hilton Hotel
100 E Main St, Norfolk, VA 23510