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California Expands Harassment Laws and Training Requirements

11/01/18

Author: ADP Admin/Wednesday, October 31, 2018/Categories: California

Overview: Beginning January 1, 2019, new California laws create additional protections for employees bringing harassment claims (Senate Bill 1300) and mandate sexual harassment prevention training for supervisors and non-supervisors (Senate Bill 1343).

Specifically, employers will be required to provide at least two hours of sexual harassment prevention training and education to all supervisory employees and at least one hour of such training to all non-supervisory employees in California, by January 1, 2020.

Effective Date: January 1, 2019

Details:

Employer Responsibility for Nonemployees
Senate Bill 1300 (SB 1300) mandates that an employer may be responsible for the acts of nonemployees with respect to any type of harassment (not just sexual harassment) against employees and other nonemployees working as interns or volunteers and service contractors.

Restrictions on Employer Releases and Non-Disparagement Agreements
SB 1300 also makes it an unlawful employment practice under the California Government Code for an employer, in exchange for a raise or bonus or as a condition of employment or continued employment, to do the following:
  • Require an employee to sign a release stating the employee does not possess any claim or injury against the employer or other covered entity, and include the release of a right to file and pursue a civil action or complaint with, or otherwise notify, a state agency, law enforcement agency, court, or other governmental entity; or
  • Require an employee to sign a non-disparagement agreement or other document that purports to deny the employee the right to disclose information about unlawful acts in the workplace, including, but not limited to, sexual harassment.
However, these provisions do not apply to negotiated settlement agreements to resolve an underlying claim in court, before an administrative agency or alternative dispute resolution forum, or through an employer’s internal complaint process.

Bystander Training
Under SB 1300, employers may- but are not required to - provide employees with bystander intervention training that includes information and practical guidance on how to enable bystanders to recognize potentially problematic behaviors and to motivate bystanders to take action when they observe such behaviors. The training and education may include exercises to provide bystanders with the skills and confidence to intervene as appropriate. Such exercises also may provide bystanders with resources they can call upon that support their intervention.

Mandatory Harassment Training

Since 2005, employers with at least 50 employees have been required to train and educate all personnel in supervisory positions in California in the prevention of sexual harassment. Senate Bill 1343 (SB 1343) lowers the number of employees to five and includes non-supervisors in the mandate.

Under SB 1343:
  • By January 1, 2020, employers with at least five employees must provide: (1) at least two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to all supervisory employees; and (2) at least one hour of sexual harassment prevention training to all non-supervisory employees in California within six months of their assumption of either a supervisory or non-supervisory position. The training must be provided once every two years.
  • Employers must provide sexual harassment prevention training to temporary or seasonal employees within 30 calendar days after the hire date or within 100 hours worked if the employee will work for less than six months. In the case of a temporary employee employed by a temporary services employer (as defined by the California Labor Code) to perform services for clients, the training must be provided by the temporary services employer, not the client.
  • The anti-sexual harassment training may be conducted with other employees, as a group, or individually, and broken up into shorter time segments, as long as the two-hour requirement for supervisory employees and one-hour requirement for non-supervisory employees is reached.
  • The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) must develop, obtain, and make available on its website the one-hour and two-hour anti-sexual harassment training courses for supervisory and non-supervisory employees. Employers may develop their own training platforms, as long as they comply with the law’s requirements.
  • The DFEH must make existing informational posters and fact sheets regarding sexual harassment prevention available to employers and to members of the public in English and other languages (as listed in the law) on the department’s internet website.
Action Required: Covered California employers should ensure compliance with the new laws. With respect to the new training requirement, employers should:
  1. Adopt annual sexual harassment training that meets the minimum standards set forth in the new California laws.
  2. Train all employees by January 1, 2020 and every two years thereafter.

As always, please be sure to contact your HR Business Partner if you have any questions.

*Produced in cooperation with Jackson Lewis P.C.

This content provides practical information concerning the subject matter covered and is provided with the understanding that ADP is not rendering legal advice.

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Tags: Compliance Corner11/01/18state update

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