Connecticut Sexual Harassment Training Requirements (2026)

Source: Connecticut General Statutes and CHRO. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Section 46a-54(15) was expanded in 2019. Today an employer with three or more employees must provide two hours of training and education to its employees. An employer with fewer than three employees must provide the training to all of its supervisory employees. The statute defines "employee" as any individual employed by an employer.

The deadline for training existing staff when the law was expanded was one year after October 1, 2019, so employers today are mainly concerned with new hires and the ten-year supplemental cycle below.

The statute says the training and education must include information about the federal and state statutory provisions on sexual harassment, and about the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment. The statute does not set out a longer content list in the part we reviewed. CHRO’s own training and resources fill in the practical detail.

The statute also lets an employer consider prior training to satisfy the requirement if the employee took training from the commission while employed elsewhere within the prior two years.

• New employees hired on or after October 1, 2019: training not later than six months after the date of hire.
• Newly hired supervisors at small employers (fewer than three employees): the same six-month window.
• Supplemental training: an employer required to train must provide periodic supplemental training not less than every ten years.

The statute does not address temporary or seasonal workers in the text we reviewed, so ask CHRO how it treats them.

The Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities must make available, at no cost to employers, an online training and education video or other interactive method. You can find it, along with FAQs and resources, on the CHRO sexual harassment prevention page: CHRO sexual harassment prevention resources.

For most Connecticut employers, the CHRO course is the simplest way to be sure the content matches what the law asks for.

1. Count your employees. Three or more means two hours of training for employees. Fewer than three means supervisors must be trained.
2. Train new hires on a clock. Put a six-month deadline from the hire date into your onboarding checklist, and most employers aim for the first few weeks so the date is never missed.
3. Pick a course whose content you have confirmed. The CHRO course is free and is the safest reference point. If you choose another provider, ask it in writing how its content maps to the federal and state laws and remedies the statute lists.
4. Look at prior training. The statute lets you consider training from the commission that an employee took while employed elsewhere in the prior two years. Ask the employee for the certificate and keep a copy.
5. Calendar the ten-year refresher. Supplemental training is required periodically and not less than every ten years. Many employers choose a shorter cycle, such as every one to two years, as good practice, but that is a choice and not a statutory requirement.
6. Keep records. Save the certificate, the date and the course name for each person.

Employers with workers in more than one state should also check the rules in each state. California, New York and Illinois, for example, have their own annual or biennial cycles and content rules, which are covered in our other state guides below.

Gama Safety’s Sexual Harassment Training is a self-paced online course of about 1.5 hours, priced at US$19.95, with a final exam (80% to pass) and a certificate. It is a general harassment-prevention course. Its own course page says that several states, including California, New York and Illinois, have their own training content and timing rules, that the course has not been reviewed for those state-specific requirements, and that you should check your state’s rules before using it to meet a legal training mandate. It has also not been reviewed for Connecticut.

We therefore do not claim it meets Connecticut’s requirement, and it is not approved or certified by CHRO. It can still help with:

• General awareness and refreshers between required sessions.
• Multi-state teams, where staff in states without a mandate need baseline training.
• A supplement to the free CHRO course.

For the Connecticut mandate, use the CHRO course or another provider whose content you have confirmed with CHRO.

Keep a record for each employee showing who completed the training, the date, and the course used, along with the certificate. The statute text we reviewed does not specify a retention period, and we did not verify a CHRO rule on it, so ask CHRO or your lawyer how long to keep records.

The penalty provisions sit in a separate section of the statutes (46a-97), which we did not review in detail, so we do not state a fine amount. Confirm current penalties with CHRO.

• Connecticut General Assembly, Chapter 814c, Human Rights and Opportunities (section 46a-54).
• CHRO, Sexual Harassment Prevention Resources.
• Gama Safety, Sexual Harassment Training course page.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, so confirm with the sources above.