The first question people ask in our consultations is:
What’s the difference between AB 1825, SB 1343, SB 778 and AB 2053? There are SO many letters and numbers, I have no clue which of these laws (or all of them?) impact my business.
First, we will summarize each one and then we will give a brief history to explain.
- AB 1825: The “old law” (for companies with over 50 employees; just required to train managers/supervisors)
- SB 1343: The “new law” (for companies with over 5 employees; required to train both employees and manager/supervisors)
- SB 778: Changed the deadline for SB 1343 compliance
- AB 2053: Companies must also train on “abusive conduct”
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. 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 because many companies and entities were not actually required to train their entire teams, 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 (which includes full time, part-time, interns, volunteers, etc) in California to provide a 1-hour anti-harassment training to their non-supervisory employees and a 2-hour anti-harassment training to their managers/supervisors; and these initial training must have been fully completed by December 31, 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 31, 2020 and must be retrained every 2-years thereafter.
In conclusion, with the law constantly evolving, keeping up with the legal requirements can become a headache for your Human Resources Department. The Compliance Pros is one of the only companies in California offering live, fun and in-person training that is fully compliant with the law. In fact, our team is comprised of attorneys who are legal experts in the field of harassment law.
Therefore, please reach out to me personally at Karin@TheCompliancePros.com with any questions or give us a call at (310) 597-1600. Our company offers everything you need to be compliant, including: harassment trainings, HR consulting, and even legal services! And our knowledgable team of experts has over 30 years of combined training experience and has provided over 2500 harassment trainings!
The Compliance Pros – Live Harassment Prevention Training Done Right!