Sexual Harassment Training for Illinois Businesses
empathiHR provides sexual harassment prevention training for Illinois businesses through our annual program. Your team receives hosted training, role-specific content, and individual completion records, backed by management guidance and help responding to employee concerns.
Account for restaurants, bars, and Chicago locations
Illinois employers need annual training, while restaurants and bars have supplemental duties. Chicago adds training hours and bystander intervention. We start with your locations and industry so these distinctions stay visible in the training plan.
Hosted training for your team
Training is delivered through our hosted platform. Employee and manager content addresses their different responsibilities, with assignments informed by workforce locations and roles.
Completion records and follow-through
We coordinate rollout and completion tracking against your roster. Individual completion records help HR see participation and keep evidence of the training delivered. That gives your team a coordinated process instead of another training project to manage on its own.
An annual program, with support beyond training
Training is included only in the annual empathiHR program. The relationship also brings management guidance, phone/email and in-app reporting, thorough investigations, and proactive quarterly engagement. Owners, managers, and HR have an experienced resource for employee concerns, with more capacity to focus on running the business.
Start with your workforce and current training
Tell us your locations, employee and manager counts, and recent training dates. We review applicable requirements and explain the annual program, delivery, records, and pricing before you decide. Once you join, onboarding establishes the relationship and we coordinate rollout and ongoing support.
Coverage scope
Every employee, including short-term, part-time, and interns. Restaurants and bars must additionally train all employees with the supplemental hospitality module.
Duration & frequency
- Duration
- No fixed minimum, but content must satisfy IDHR model program requirements; restaurant/bar supplemental training is in addition to the base program.
- Frequency
- Annually, every calendar year.
- New hires
- No fixed day-count in the statute. The enforceable date is December 31 of the calendar year of hire; IDHR advises training new staff as soon as possible after hire, since the employer is answerable for their conduct from day one.
Every compliant program must include
Use these topics to review your program against the Illinois requirements, alongside the agency sources and coverage details below.
Explanation of sexual harassment consistent with the IHRA
Examples of conduct constituting unlawful sexual harassment
Summary of federal and state statutory provisions concerning sexual harassment, remedies, and enforcement
Summary of employer responsibilities in preventing, investigating, and correcting harassment
For restaurants/bars: additional content on industry-specific scenarios per IDHR model
Recordkeeping
Employers must maintain a record of all training provided each year; IDHR may request these records during an investigation.
Penalties & enforcement
IDHR may issue a notice to show cause and pursue civil penalties if an employer does not correct a training violation. Penalties depend on employer size and prior violations under the Illinois Human Rights Act.
Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR).
Menopause-related workplace protections
Illinois Public Act 104-0793, the Menopause Equity and Care Act, adds menopause-related conditions to the Illinois Human Rights Act’s definition of pregnancy. It does not create a new protected class, and it does not change the annual sexual harassment prevention training requirement described on this page.
Because the protection runs through the pregnancy provisions, it reaches employers with one or more employees, the same scope as the training mandate above. Employees may request reasonable accommodation for perimenopause, menopause, and associated conditions, and the employer carries the burden of proving undue hardship. The accommodation examples named in the Act include flexible scheduling or modified work hours and a temperature or climate-adjusted workspace, among others.
Two things are worth preparing now. Your accommodation process and manager guidance should handle these requests the way they already handle pregnancy requests. Your handbook needs to describe the right to accommodation for menopause-related conditions, and the posted notice must be the one the Illinois Department of Human Rights prepares or approves, which the agency makes available on its website rather than leaving employers to draft.
Public Act 104-0793 (HB 5284)Fourteen or fewer employees?
Small teams still need a practical way to handle training, reporting, and employee concerns. Check the coverage details above for your obligations in Illinois. Our program gives owners and managers experienced support without having to manage every step alone.
Keep training connected across your locations.
Illinois is one of 11 jurisdictions in this reference. We help your team organize training and records around its workforce, with management guidance and investigation support when concerns arise.
Illinois training: buyer questions
What is included when we choose empathiHR for Illinois training?
Do Illinois restaurants and bars need more than the general course?
Does statewide Illinois training cover Chicago automatically?
Does Illinois require a separate annual menopause course?
This page summarizes publicly available statutes and regulatory guidance, last reviewed October 2026. State and local mandates change frequently; verify current requirements with the enforcing agency or employment counsel before relying on this content for compliance decisions. empathiHR clients receive a written compliance matrix updated against their roster and locations.
Discuss training for your Illinois team.
Training is included in our annual program. Tell us about your workforce, locations, and current training so we can explain the program and discuss the fit for your team.