Where older policies fall behind
Many policies were drafted around sexual harassment by a supervisor and never revisited. New York's law now reaches harassment based on any protected characteristic, protects non-employees such as contractors and vendors working in the workplace, and does not require conduct to be severe or pervasive before it is unlawful. A policy that still states the older standard, or that routes complaints through a single channel running to the person's own manager, can mislead employees about their rights. The state publishes a model sexual harassment prevention policy along with minimum standards that every employer's written policy has to meet, and both have been revised over time.
Pieces worth reviewing
Look at how employees can report, including at least one route that does not run through the person they would be complaining about. Check whether the policy tells employees what happens after they report and where they can go outside the company, since New York's minimum standards address both. Remote and after-hours conduct on messaging apps belongs in scope, because that is where much workplace harassment now happens. If you have staff outside New York, decide whether one policy can meet every state's rules or whether state addenda are cleaner. Collect the current policy, the complaint form, training materials and attendance records, and any recent complaints, because how the policy has been applied matters as much as its wording.
Drafting with a dispute in mind
If a claim is ever filed, the policy is usually one of the first documents both sides read. A clear, well-distributed policy can help an employer, but under New York law an employee's decision not to use the internal process is not by itself decisive, so the policy works better as a tool managers actually follow than as a shield. We review the document against current state requirements and, for New York City employers, the city's training and notice rules. We also talk with the people who receive complaints, because a policy that HR understands and supervisors do not tends to break down at the first report.
