Governor Brown Signs Bill Expanding Anti-Harassment Training Requirements in California

Source: California Employers Association

The #MeToo movement has renewed attention on sexual harassment in the workplace and on September 30, 2018, Governor Brown acted on the last of over 1,200 bills passed this year which will affect California employers.

One such new bill is Senate Bill 1343, which expands employer training obligations taking effect on January 1, 2019. Currently, employers with 50 or more employees must provide anti-harassment training to supervisory employees within six months of hire and every two years thereafter. The new law extends the training requirement to employers with five or more employees. The law also requires that non-supervisory employees receive one hour of training.

Employers must now expand their harassment prevention efforts by training both supervisory and non-supervisory employees every two years. Employers will be required to provide the first mandated training to all employees (both supervisory and non-supervisory) by January 1, 2020.

This new California anti-harassment law makes one thing clear – employers must take steps to prevent harassment in the workplace and failure to do so can lead to increased liability.

For further information regarding this subject, feel free to contact Flores Financial Services’ Human Resources Department at 619-588-2411.