Ohio House Bill HB323

Ohio 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 6/3/25

Caption

To amend sections 2151.421 and 4113.99 and to enact section 4113.90 of the Revised Code to require employers report suspected sexual assault involving minor employees.

Summary

HB323 would expand Ohio’s child abuse and neglect reporting law to specifically require employers to report suspected sexual assault involving minor employees. The bill amends existing mandatory reporting provisions in section 2151.421 so that an employer who knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child under 18, or a person under 21 with a developmental disability or physical impairment, has suffered or faces a threat of sexual assault must immediately report that information to a public children services agency or peace officer. The bill also creates a new section 4113.90 requiring the director of job and family services to develop a one-hour virtual training program to help employers recognize and report sexual assault, and it makes failure to provide that training to new employees a fourth-degree misdemeanor under section 4113.99. The measure would affect both employers and the child welfare reporting framework in Ohio. It adds employers to the list of mandated reporters in the abuse-and-neglect statute, places a 48-hour reporting deadline on employers for suspected sexual assault reports, and ties those reports into the existing investigation, confidentiality, immunity, and notice provisions already in section 2151.421. It also creates a new compliance obligation for employers to provide the state training program to employees hired on or after the effective date, with criminal penalties for noncompliance. Overall sentiment in the available record appears limited but generally policy-driven rather than partisan or controversial, because the bill was only introduced and referred to the House Judiciary Committee with no recorded votes or committee testimony. The stated purpose suggests a child-protection and workplace-safety focus, aiming to improve reporting of abuse involving minors in employment settings. The main point of contention likely centers on the scope of the new employer mandate and the criminal penalty for failing to provide the required training. Potential concerns include whether employers are being asked to make judgments that overlap with existing child abuse reporting duties, whether the training requirement is burdensome for small employers, and how the new reporting rule interacts with confidentiality, privilege, and existing mandatory reporter obligations for other professionals. Supporters would likely emphasize earlier detection and reporting of sexual assault against minors, while critics may focus on implementation costs and legal uncertainty.

Impact

HB323 would amend Ohio Revised Code section 2151.421, the state’s child abuse and neglect mandatory reporting statute, by adding employers as a category of mandated reporters for suspected sexual assault involving minor employees. It would also enact new section 4113.90 to require the Department of Job and Family Services to create a one-hour virtual training program on recognizing and reporting sexual assault, and it would amend section 4113.99 to make failure to provide that training to covered employees a fourth-degree misdemeanor. The bill would therefore expand reporting duties, create a new employer training mandate, and add a criminal penalty for noncompliance.

Sentiment

The available legislative record shows no committee debate, testimony, or votes, so there is no documented public split in the materials provided. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears to be framed as a child-protection and reporting-enforcement proposal, suggesting a generally protective policy rationale. Because it was only introduced and referred to committee, sentiment can only be characterized as preliminary and not yet fully developed in the record.

Contention

The likely areas of contention are the breadth of the employer reporting duty, the interaction with existing mandatory reporter laws, and the new training requirement backed by criminal penalties. Employers may question whether they are equipped to identify suspected sexual assault and whether the 48-hour reporting rule is workable in practice, especially for smaller businesses or employers with limited HR capacity. Another possible issue is whether the bill duplicates or overlaps with existing child abuse reporting obligations already imposed on many professionals, and whether the state-created training is sufficient to justify penalizing employers who fail to provide it.