Employers in New York must adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy by October 9, 2018. This is a part of New York States legislation passed earlier this year to reduce the prevalence of discrimination and harassment in the workplace. The State has provided a model policy meant to be a minimum that employers can build upon. This policy has to be drafted with precision because it must satisfy the new law and will be the foundation for any lawsuit or charge. If you have an existing policy, you need to be sure that it complies with the new statutory requirements.
Employers have to provide a form for employees to report complaints of harassment and develop a procedure for investigating those complaints that ensures due process for all parties involved.
Employers also have to give employees information about federal and state law on workplace sexual harassment, including remedies available to victims and a statement that local laws may also apply. That information must include examples of conduct that would constitute unlawful sexual harassment.
The policy also has to clearly state to employees that sexual harassment is considered a form of employee misconduct under law and that employees or managers who take part in or knowingly allow such harassment will be disciplined. Employers also have to make clear that there will not be any retaliation against employees who either complain about sexual harassment or help an investigation into such harassment.
Employers will also have to provide training regarding sexual harassment prevention to each of their employees. According to the state, that training has to be interactive and must explain each part of the model policy, or whatever policy the employer chooses to adopt beyond the minimum standards. Under the new law, employers will have to be able to train their employees on sexual harassment by January 1, 2019.
We’ve seen it time and time again. Association treasurer steals from organization. It happened again in Ohio where a condo treasurer made 48 withdrawals from the association’s account into his personal account from 2016 to 2017. It was not until this year that the board members realized what was going on. Here’s more.
Board members like that one were not looking at the bank statements. Why? They didn’t have access to them. Every board member should be keeping an eye on their association’s financials and its treasurer. They have a fiduciary duty to the organization and its members to be doing so. With records like bank statements not in one central place, it is really hard to have effective oversight to avoid situations like this one.
Association need a central place for its documents. A place that board members can access and review the association’s records. In view of situations like the above one, board members must keep an eye on association business and its trusted officers.
There is increasing pressure towards Board transparency and member entitlement to records. This is yet another example. A New York City Appeal Court’s recent decision addressed in the article requiring greater access to Board records and the right to make paper and electronic copies of records subject to a confidentiality agreement is a huge transparency shift that Boards have to be prepared to deal with.
Read this Article from Habitat Magazine.
This time it happened in a 72-unit condominium in Massachusetts. The Board Member Treasurer did things like writing checks to her contractor son for made up work and none of the other Board Members or owners were reviewing condo records like bank statements. When other Board Members stumbled upon the records years later, the fraud was revealed but it was too late; the money was gone, there was no insurance available and the owners were left without $183,000.
It really is important for organizations to have framework, policies and procedures in place for their Boards. Board Members need to oversee their organization’s business but also their fellow Board Members. They are fiduciaries who are charged with looking out for the best interest of their members. There is no excuse for a Board Member of any type or size organization not to have unconditional and ready access to organization records and not to regularly review those records (like bank statements) and allow such a fraud to happen. This case also highlights what happens when volunteer organizations skimp on insurance that may have covered some of the damage for this inexcusable loss.
If you’re a volunteer Board Member you should ask yourself where are my organization’s records? How do I access them? When was the last time I looked at them? I may be responsible for the actions of my fellow Board Members and others running my organization so I’d better start overseeing them before its too late.
Whether you’re a community association trying to collect arrears, a business trying to force a vendor to comply with a contract, or anyone else trying to enforce their rights, good record keeping is essential. Waiting until a dispute arises or suit is necessary or ends up served on you, is too late in many instances to pay attention to record keeping.
The time to focus is the present. It is best to proactively manage what you keep and how you keep it so when its time to prosecute or defend a matter, you’re ready. Consider a well thought out record retention schedule. Which emails should you keep and how long. What documents, electronic or paper, should be kept or purged. Consulting with counsel to make sure your business and personal record keeping complies with the law and protects you is a question your attorney should be able to answer. Remember that being protective in keeping good records will not only protect you and your business, it will end up saving you a lot of aggravation and money in the long run.
