Workplace harassment is a type of discrimination that can occur in any work environment, including a job interview, a work meeting, during a work shift, or while performing work-related duties.
Beginning January 1, 2020, California employers with a workforce of more than 5 employees will be required to implement an anti-harassment training program. If you haven't already heard, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 778 into law which requires California employers to provide expanded training to employees to prevent sexual harassment. According to SHRM:
"Employers with five or more employees must provide at least two hours of sexual-harassment-prevention training to supervisory employees and one hour of training to non-supervisory employees."
This training must be completed every 2 years. Also, employers have 6 months from the date of hire to provide this training to new employees and only 30 days to provide training to temporary workers, which means this should be added to your standard onboarding checklist. The deadline to complete the first round of training is this year which means now is the time to put it into process.
The California Mandate does not only impact businesses in the state. Every business with a workforce of more than 5 employees, regardless of its location, should care about the implications of this law. The implementation of workplace harassment training is a challenge for any business, and the implementation of this law is especially difficult for businesses that rely on contractors. For example, companies that rely heavily on contractors will find it challenging to train their contractors.
Does this seem overwhelming? ABC can help! Give us a call at (877) 297-5460 to learn how. If you’re a business owner in the Golden State, it’s important to understand the new law.