California Anti-Harassment Laws Explained

In 2005 the California Legislature created Assembly Bill 1825 (AB 1825), which required all California companies with 50 or more employees to train their managers and supervisors on issues having to do with sexual harassment. This is partly why the Claifornia anti-harassment laws came to be. The training must have been given at least every two years, be at least 2 hours long, and be given to each supervisor/manager within 6 months of employment/promotion.

Because of AB 1825, more managers and supervisors in California understood the laws surrounding harassment and discrimination, and they understood what they were allowed to do and what was prohibited.

However, 13 years later, with the rise of the #MeToo movement, the California Legislature determined that many companies and entities were not actually required to train their entire teams and therefore there were countless employees that did not fully understand the laws and what was expected of them. To address this issue the California Legislature created Senate Bill 1343 (SB 1343).

SB 1343 requires all California organizations with 5 or more employees to provide a 1 hour anti-harassment training to their non-supervisory employees (full time, part time, interns, volunteers, etc.,) and a 2 hour anti-harassment training to their managers and these initial trainings must have been fully completed by December 31st, 2019.

The Legislators, however, realized that the December 2019 deadline was fast approaching and many companies did not have sufficient time to comply, so in the Spring of 2019 the Legislators worked to pass a bill – SB 778, that would allow one extra year for compliance. This bill was passed and approved in August 2019. SB 778 amends SB 1343 to require that everyone must be trained by December 31st, 2020 and must be retrained every 2 years thereafter.

Pursuant to SB 1343 and SB 778, by December 31, 2020, an organization with 5+ employees shall provide at least 2 hours of classroom or other effective and interactive harassment training to all supervisory employees and at least 1 hour of classroom or other effective and interactive harassment training to all nonsupervisory employees in California within 6 months of their assumption of a position. This training must be provided once every 2 years.

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For purposes of counting whether an organization has 5+ employees and being compliant with California anti-harassment laws, the definition of “employee” includes: full-time and part-time employees, independent contractors, volunteers and unpaid interns in California. For example, if an employer has 2 part-time employees and 5 unpaid interns, the employer would meet the training threshold.

The organization is not required to train the independent contractors, volunteers and unpaid interns, but those individuals are included in the count to meet the 5+ employee threshold. That said, if those individuals work with your employees on a consistent bases, then it is highly recommended and is considered to be “best practices” to include them in your training so that they understand what is required and expected.

Something to note, any temporary employees or contractors provided by an outside employer (e.g., a temp agency) must be provided the applicable harassment training by their employer.

View our Frequently Asked Questions for more information about our courses. Also, please contact us to learn more about how The Compliance Pros is the best solution for your harassment training needs. 

For the purposes of California’s anti-harassment laws, a person does not need to have the words ‘manager’or ‘supervisor’ in their title to be required to take the Manager Training. Instead it is anyone with the authority to hire, fire, assign work, transfer, discipline or reward other employees. It could also be anyone that has the authority to effectively recommend (but not necessarily take) these actions, if exercising that authority requires the use of independent judgment.

It is therefore recommended that the following people should receive the manager training:

• anyone with power, influence or control
• the person that runs your office (even if they are not considered a manager)
• anyone in HR, unless they are purely administrative
• the people on your Board of Directors (if applicable)

View our Frequently Asked Questions for more information about our courses. Also, please contact us to learn more about how The Compliance Pros is the best solution for your harassment training needs. 

The 5+ employee requirement applies to organizations that are located outside of California, if they have at least 5 employees in California. Therefore it is recommended to train those employees in California, as well as the managers and supervisors that manage those California employees, even if those managers are located outside of California. This will help you maintain your compliance with California anti-harassment laws (For example, if an organization is located in California, but has managers or supervisors located outside California, then those managers and supervisors outside of California should be trained if they manage employees in California.)

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Any new supervisory or nonsupervisory employees that are hired or promoted after January 1, 2020, must be given the appropriate california anti-harassment law training within 6 months of assuming such new position.

Pursuant to SB 530 (signed October 2019), seasonal and temporary employees or “any employee that is hired to work for less than 6 months” must be trained within 30 calendar days after the hire date or within 100 hours worked, whichever occurs first, beginning January 1, 2021. The exception to this rule is for any part-time people that will work less than 100 hours and fewer than 30 days.

View our Frequently Asked Questions for more information about our courses. Also, please contact us to learn more about how The Compliance Pros is the best solution for your harassment training needs. 

Here is a simple “best practices” chart that complies with California anti-harassment laws SB 778 and SB 1343:

• Last trained in 2017: Train all managers and employees by 2-year anniversary of last training. E.g., if you trained just your managers in November 2017 (as was the law at that time), it is recommended to train both managers and employees around November 2019 (or as close to that time as possible).
• Last trained in 2018: Train both managers and employees by the 2-year anniversary of last training. For example, if you trained your managers in June 2018, it is recommended to train both your managers and employees around June 2020.
• Last trained in 2019:
  • If you only trained your managers, then you will need to train your employees before December 2020. However, that would put your managers and employees on different training schedules. To simplify your schedule, we would recommend training both your managers and employees before December 2020.
  • If you trained both your managers and employees in 2019, then you don’t need to retrain in 2020. Instead your next training should be around the 2- year anniversary of your last training date. E.g., if you trained your entire team in July 2019, then your next training time should be before July 2021.

View our Frequently Asked Questions for more information about our courses. Also, please contact us to learn more about how The Compliance Pros is the best solution for your harassment training needs. 

Yes, pursuant to the law and the DFEH (The Department of Fair Employment and Housing), the sexual harassment training must also include Protected Classes, including Gender Identity and Gender Expression, the types of harassment, etc. In addition, it must also cover Abusive Conduct (e.g., bullying) as set forth in Government Code 12950.1. The regulations governing the anti-harassment training (including trainer qualifications) are set forth in 2 C.C.R. Sections 11023 and 11024, as well as SB 1300.

To see the DFEH Employer Requirements and Resources, click on this button to be taken to the DFEH website
DFEH Website

To see a copy of the printable DFEH brochure on Sexual Harassment and Employer Requirements, click this button:
DFEH Brochure

View our Frequently Asked Questions for more information about our courses. Also, please contact us to learn more about how The Compliance Pros is the best solution for your harassment training needs.