ALBANY — All New York public employees are now protected from harassment in the workplace and employers are prohibited from releasing personnel files to retaliate against alleged victims, as part of a package of new laws signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday.

Another bill Hochul signed Wednesday will launch a statewide, toll-free confidential hotline for complaints of workplace sexual harassment.

Lawmakers proposed the new law prohibiting the release of personnel files following the release of an independent investigation in August that found Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women in violation of state and federal civil rights law.

That report, overseen by state Attorney General Letitia James’s office, said former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s aides leaked memorandums to try to discredit the first person to publicly accuse him of sexual harassment. Independent investigators also found Cuomo and his office failed to investigate sexual harassment complaints.

“We created a human resources department, a real one, so actual real complaints can be heard by real people, who will take action,” said Hochul, who signed the laws at the Javits Center in New York City. “We actually have an outside law firm available for people to complain to, so there’s no sense that anybody within my administration can cover up or sweep something under the rug. No longer will a woman have to live in fear in any workplace, particularly in our administration.”

Cuomo decried the civil sexual harassment probe as part of a political witch hunt driven by his enemies, and said investigators did not include every piece of evidence that cast him in a positive light.

Cuomo resigned in August to avoid a likely impeachment trial led by Democrats, which could have prevented him from running for office again. But he’s raised speculation about his political ambitions after railing against “cancel culture” at a Brooklyn church earlier this month. He also plans to speak at a Bronx church.

Hochul, who’s gearing up for a Democratic primary in June, said Wednesday that her administration has overhauled how it handles harassment complaints to ensure they are taken seriously. She’s also stressed that employees will have to attend in-person anti-harassment training, rather than online.

She spoke alongside members of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, whose leaders have pushed for anti-harassment reforms for years and spoken about their own experiences facing harassment as legislative employees.

State law previously excluded personal staff of elected officials and judges from anti-discrimination protection under New York’s Human Rights Law.

“To the advocates who made this happen, and their champions in the legislature: I’m proud to sign bills that will address sexual harassment in the workplace and say that once and for all, my administration has cleaned house,” Hochul said. “This is a new day in New York.”

In lengthy interviews, investigators questioned whether Cuomo and his inner circle were trying to silence former senior aide Lindsey Boylan by questioning her political and personal motives soon after she took to Twitter to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment.

State law and the governor office’s policy prohibits retaliating against current and former employees who raise harassment complaints by, for example, releasing an “unwarranted negative reference.”

Cuomo said he helped draft a letter attacking Boylan’s credibility that his circle circulated among supporters, though never published. His administration — with the help of former Cuomo aides — also released internal memos showing Boylan had, herself, been the subject of complaints about toxic workplace behavior.

“You can be a perpetrator of sexual harassment and be a victim of sexual harassment,” Cuomo acknowledged at one part of his deposition.

But Cuomo and aides like Melissa DeRosa argued the administration acted within its rights to defend the governor against Boylan.

Cuomo, for his own part, has denied he ever touched anyone inappropriately or meant to offend any of the 11 women in the harassment probe.

Several prosecutors around New York have said they found the women credible but lacked enough evidence to press criminal charges against Cuomo.

Sexual harassment generally is not a crime in New York unless it involves sexual abuse, forcible touching or other criminal sexual conduct.

A female state trooper on Cuomo’s security detail has filed a civil lawsuit against Cuomo seeking civil damages for sexual harassment.