Reports of sexual harassment in the workplace have been on the rise, with 42 percent of business leaders saying they've seen an uptick in complaints within their own companies in the 18 months since the #metoo movement launched on Twitter, according to a new survey.

The poll, conducted by Proskauer Rose law firm, interviewed people across the U.S. who make 'high-level decisions regarding employment issues,' according to their report.

'The most striking feature of #metoo was the breadth of the impact,' researchers wrote. 'With great variation in size, geographic location, and industry, two-thirds of survey respondents reported a high or moderate impact on their organizations.'

This graph illustrates the share of business leaders who report a significant increase in different types of workplace complaints, including sexual harassment

Their findings are consistent with government data: The number of sexual harassment lawsuits filed by the federal government against U.S. employers increased by more than 50 percent, year-on-year in 2018.

During the same period, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission saw a 50 percent increase in the amount of money recovered for victims, which totaled nearly $70 million in fiscal year 2018.

'Most companies are seeing an increase in claims, but what's different is the nature of the claim, meaning that they're seeing claims that are based on old information,' Elise Bloom, an attorney with Proskauer Rose, told DailyMail.com.

According to the survey, companies across America are receiving harassment reports based on alleged conduct that is more than a year old (19 percent of cases) – or even more than five years old in some instances (11 percent of cases).

The survey also revealed that 21 percent of workers are initiating complaints through a lawyer rather than coming to the employer first - a worrisome development for many employers seeking to resolve these issues outside of a courtroom.

In addition to the increase in sexual harassment complaints, 23 percent of business leaders reported a rise in discrimination complaints and a 35 percent said their company had an increase in other types of complaints, including retaliation for speaking out.

American businesses and organizations are facing three major challenges following the dawn of the #metoo movement in October 2017, according to Proskauer Rose's labor and employment division.

The first is the need to keep up with a proliferation of new state and local laws – 32 states introduced more than 125 pieces of legislation on the issue in 2018, alone, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

For example, some states have banned confidentiality provisions in sexual harassment settlements, meaning that victims can't be forced into silence after an agreement is reached. Others have limited or barred arbitration on sexual harassment claims.

This graph illustrates the share of workplace complaints that are more than one year old, as well as those that are based on alleged behavior from 5-10 years ago

The second challenge for employers is updating any training materials to appropriately prepare workers for the #metoo era and remain current on those rapidly changing laws.

'Training seems to be an important way of ensuring that you minimize claims within the workplace, but … it's the type of training and ensuring that you have training that can actually be heard and understood by your audience,' Bloom said.

'If your audience is not filled with employees that typically work on a computer, then doing web based training may not be the most effective way to communicate the message to them,' she added.

The third issue is that many businesses and organizations don't know what their resources are when someone comes forward with a complaint.

Experts at Proskauer Rose noted the increased pressure on companies to quickly investigate new allegations and determine appropriate action.

They suggested updating training methods for human resources personnel so they are better prepared for the continued onslaught of these kinds of lawsuits and allegations.

The survey also found a majority of American companies rely on traditional methods for employees to submit complaints, which typically have workers go through human resources or a manager or supervisor to voice concerns.

A minority (15 percent) of businesses introduced new mechanisms for reporting harassment, with a new hotline available in most of those cases for employees to voice a complaint.