San Diego Sexual Harassment Attorney Explains the Requirements

Workplace sexual harassment is a nationwide issue that affects workers on a daily basis. California takes sexual harassment very seriously. State lawmakers continue to expand workplace harassment laws for California employers. Lawmakers passed SB 1343 and SB 778, which expanded statewide mandatory sexual harassment training requirements to most employers.

Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training in 2021

By January 1, 2021, employers must be in compliance with legislation that requires mandatory sexual harassment training for supervisors and other employees. The requirement for training was initially slated to begin in early 2020, but an extension pushed the deadline into early 2021.

California employers with five or more workers must provide sexual harassment and abusive conduct training to non-supervisory employees and supervisors by January 1, 2021. Non-supervisory employees must receive one hour of training whereas supervisory employees must receive two hours.

In addition to meeting this requirement, California employers must also:

• Provide one hour of training to nonsupervisory employees and two hours to supervisory employees once every two years;
• Provide training to new employees within six months of their start date;
• Cover certain topics during the training process. Our attorney can answer questions you may have about these topics and training compliance.

Sexual Harassment Training for Part-Time Workers, Contractors and Temp Workers

For temporary or seasonal employees who are hired for six months or less, employers must provide mandatory sexual harassment training within 30 days of the start date or within the first 100 hours of work.

Independent contractors do not need to receive training, but do count towards an employer’s number of workers. The same is true for unpaid volunteers and interns.

For temp workers contracted by temp agencies, they must receive their mandatory training through the temp agencies.

Using DFEH Sexual Harassment Training Materials

DFEH offers training materials that employers can use to meet their requirements under the new law. You can conduct the DFEH sexual harassment training online. If you are an employer, you can use a PC or Mac with:

• Internet Explorer
• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Safari

You may also be able to complete the training modules on a mobile device. For an Apple device, you would need to be using the latest versions of Chrome or Safari in Apple iOS 10 or a later version. For an Android device, you would need Android 4.4 or later plus Google Chrome’s mobile app.

While you are taking the training, do not refresh or exit out of the module. It will not save your progress and you would need to start over.

Due to the pandemic, online training is a more attractive option for many employers across the state.