Chicago Harassment Training Requirements: Hours, Policy, and Penalties

Chicago harassment training requirements apply to every employer with staff working in the city, with no minimum headcount. Each year, every employee needs at least one hour of sexual harassment prevention training and one hour of bystander intervention training; supervisors and managers need two hours of prevention training plus the one hour of bystander training. Employers must also keep a written policy, post the city’s notice, and retain training records for five years. Violations carry fines of $500 to $1,000, and each day counts as a separate offense.¹

Which Employers and Workers Are Covered

The ordinance reaches any employer whose employees work within Chicago city limits. A two-person office faces the same obligations as a ten-thousand-employee company.² Full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers all count.

Remote workers are included. If an employee works from home but reports to a Chicago manager or office, the ordinance covers them. The reverse is also true: a supervisor based outside the city who manages Chicago-based staff must complete the supervisor-level training.² Independent contractors are not required to be trained under the ordinance, even though the city’s own training module mentions them.³

Annual Training Hours by Role

The ordinance sets different minimums depending on who you’re training:

All employees: one hour of sexual harassment prevention training plus one hour of bystander intervention training each year, for two hours total.
Managers and supervisors: two hours of sexual harassment prevention training plus one hour of bystander intervention training each year, for three hours total.²

The training cycle runs on the calendar year, January 1 through December 31. New hires should be trained as soon as possible after their start date rather than waiting until the end of the year, because employers are liable for a new employee’s conduct from day one.⁴

Why Illinois State Training Isn’t Enough

Illinois already requires annual sexual harassment prevention training under the Illinois Human Rights Act, and many Chicago employers assume the state training covers them.⁵ It doesn’t. The state model satisfies Chicago’s one-hour prevention requirement for general staff, but Chicago piles on two more obligations:

A second hour of sexual harassment prevention training for supervisors and managers.
A full hour of bystander intervention training for every employee, including supervisors.

The city has stated plainly on its website that the Illinois model training alone does not fully satisfy Chicago’s law.² Employers who stop at the state program expose themselves to the daily fine structure.

What the Prevention Training Must Cover

The sexual harassment prevention curriculum has to hit specific topics drawn from the ordinance:

The definition of sexual harassment under the ordinance, including unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other conduct of a sexual nature that interferes with work or creates a hostile environment.
Concrete examples of prohibited conduct.
The legal remedies available to victims, including how to file a complaint with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations.
A summary of employer responsibilities to prevent, investigate, and correct harassment.

Employers can build their own program or use the city’s free template, which is available in English, Spanish, Polish, Simplified Chinese, Arabic, and Hindi.² Any custom program must meet or exceed the Illinois Human Rights Act minimum standards.¹

What Bystander Intervention Training Covers

Bystander intervention is a separate annual requirement, not a subtopic of prevention training. Every employee, including supervisors, needs one hour of it each year.²

Where prevention training teaches people to recognize harassment and understand their rights, bystander training focuses on what to do when you witness it happening to someone else. The city’s model program covers techniques for safely intervening in real time, de-escalation, and ways to support the person being targeted.⁶ Like the prevention templates, the bystander materials can be tailored to a specific workplace as long as the core content remains.

Written Policy and Poster

Every Chicago employer must maintain a written sexual harassment policy and give it to each new hire, in the employee’s primary language, within the first calendar week of employment.² The policy must include:

The ordinance’s definition of sexual harassment.
Examples of prohibited conduct.
Details on legal services and government resources available to victims.
Internal reporting procedures and contact information.
A statement that retaliation for reporting sexual harassment is illegal in Chicago.¹

The anti-retaliation statement is easy to miss. Leaving it out of an otherwise complete policy is still a violation.

Employers must also display a poster in a visible, accessible location that summarizes the ordinance’s protections and explains how to file a complaint. The Chicago Commission on Human Relations provides downloadable posters.²

Five-Year Recordkeeping Rule

Employers must keep records of the written policy and all training provided to each employee for at least five years, or for the duration of any pending complaint, lawsuit, or investigation, whichever is longer.¹ Records should name the employees who completed each training, show the dates, and preserve copies of the materials used.

Weak records carry a steeper consequence than a missed fine. If an employer cannot produce these records, the ordinance creates a legal presumption that the employer violated the training requirements, and that presumption can only be overcome with clear and convincing evidence.¹ If you did the training but can’t prove it, the city can treat you as if you never did.

Penalties and Daily Accrual

Failing to provide the required training, maintain the written policy, or post the required notice carries a fine of $500 to $1,000 per offense. Each day a violation continues is a separate offense.¹ That daily accrual is where the real exposure sits. An employer that ignores the requirement for three months could face tens of thousands of dollars in accumulated fines before an employee ever files a complaint.

These penalties address the training, policy, and posting rules. An employer found liable for underlying harassment faces additional consequences through the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, which can include compensatory damages and other remedies.

1
Chicago Municipal Code. Municipal Code of Chicago 6-10-040 – Sexual Harassment
2
City of Chicago. Sexual Harassment
3
FordHarrison. Chicago Employers: Notable Amendments to Chicago’s Sexual Harassment Ordinance
4
Illinois Department of Human Rights. FAQ for Sexual Harassment Prevention Training
5
Illinois Department of Human Rights. Training Standards for All Employers, Sexual Harassment Prevention
6
City of Chicago. Bystander Intervention Model Training