In part due to the #MeToo Movement, Connecticut businesses of at least three people will now be required to provide sexual harassment training to all employees within the next year.

Connecticut's Public Act 19-16, also known as the Time's Up Act, takes effect Oct. 1, and has left attorneys making last-minute calls to employer-clients.

Previously, sexual harassment training was only for supervisors and only for businesses who employed at least 50 people.

But the new law might surprise some small-business owners, said attorney Bob Mitchell, a principal at Mitchell & Sheahan in Stratford.

"They will comply because they have no choice," said Mitchell, who represents small-business owners as part of his employment law practice. "But it will definitely be a burden for some of these small companies—not just in expense, but also time-wise and administratively. I think it will be a mild annoyance for some of them."

Noncompliance could result in fines upward of $1,000.

"If you ignore them and end up in court, that's not a good look for you," said Kelly Cardin, an Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart associate who specializes in employment litigation and workplace investigations. "If it comes out in court that you have not complied with the law, jurors will not like that, and it could be a strike against [the business]."

In talking to her business clients, Cardin advises to ensure they have accurate training material by consulting with counsel and incorporating guidance and regulations from the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. For instance, the commission will soon make available a video on preventing workplace sexual harassment.

But first, attorneys need to make their clients aware of the new law that takes effect next week.

"Very few employers actually know about this," Mitchell said. "We are telling our clients, and I'm sure other attorneys are telling their clients. But there is no organized method that the state government has to inform anyone, and they probably should have had one."'

The new law doesn't cover independent contractors or part-time employees who work less than 20 hours a week.

Day Pitney's Dan Schwartz called it "only a starting point."

"Companies must have policies and training, but companies also have a responsibility to enforce its policies," said Schwartz, a partner in the firm's labor and employment department. He said the #MeToo movement played a role in the Nutmeg State adopting the new law.

The law will also have provisions related to statutes for sexual assault. It extends the statute of limitations from one year to 10 for misdemeanors, such as fourth-degree sexual assault. It also eliminates the statute of limitations for prosecuting sex assault against minors. And for civil cases, the age limit of a "minor" would change from 18 to 21 years old. As a result, victims younger than 21 years old will now have until their 51st birthday, as opposed to their 48th, to file civil lawsuits.

For Schwartz, the $1,000 civil penalty is a relatively small potential hurdle.

He said Wednesday, "The bigger risk is if they are sued for sexual harassment, and the jury considers their failure to be in compliance with the law, that can be a factor in potentially assessing punitive damages."