California mandates: Cal Gov Code §§ 12950.1 – 12950.2, 2 CCR § 11024; SB 1343, AB 1825, AB 2053, SB 396, SB 1300
92% of California’s workforce—roughly 15.5 million workers—are required to receive sexual harassment prevention training every two years. For HR and compliance professionals it can be difficult to navigate the state’s current mandates.
What were the original AB 1825 Training Requirements?
The state of California’s sexual harassment prevention training law AB 1825, mandated employers with 50 or more employees to provide two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to all supervisory employees at least once every two years.
What are the current SB 1343 Training Requirements?
The state of California’s current sexual harassment prevention training mandate, SB 1343, requires employers with five or more employees to provide nonsupervisory employees with at least one hour of sexual harassment prevention training every two years, in addition to requiring these employers to provide two hours of the training to supervisory employees every two years.
What must California’s sexual harassment prevention training cover?
The training law requires, among other things, that you provide learners with the information and practical guidance about the federal and state laws concerning the prohibition, prevention, and correction of sexual harassment. This includes harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, the remedies available to people who experience sexual harassment, and training on the prevention of abusive conduct. The training must also include practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
What else should the training cover?
California law (SB 1300) states that employers may provide bystander intervention training, including information, resources, practical guidance, exercises, and skills to enable bystanders to recognize problematic behaviors and take action to intervene as appropriate.
Who does this apply to?
Both supervisors and non-management staff members are required to be trained. New employees or employees changing roles, will generally need to be trained within six months of their start dates, or dates of promotion to supervisor.
What does this mean for you?
Considering the expansive nature of the mandate, your business will likely need to take a number of measures to satisfy California’s harassment training requirements. As a first step, you will need to schedule and deliver sexual harassment training to your existing workforce and make a plan to train all new hires.
Want to learn more about the mandates across North America?
The EVERFI team of dedicated in-house attorneys wants you to have a clear understanding of which states and provinces require harassment training. Explore our interactive guide to sexual harassment prevention training requirements.