In 2021, there are new updated employment Laws that impact California employers. To shed light on these regulations, our 2021 Employment Law series is designed to help employers navigate these significant changes so they can stay compliant with California law and thrive.

With sexual allegation cases and the #MeToo movement constantly on the rise, California legislators have been creating new and updating past legislation to enforce sexual harassment training in the workplace, one of which is Senate Bill 1343 (SB1343).

What is Senate Bill 1343?

Governor Brown signed SB 1343 more than two years ago, on September 30, 2018. According to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), SB1343 requires employers with 5 or more employees (inclusive of temporary and seasonal employees) to issue “at least two hours of sexual harassment training to all supervisory employees and at least one hour of sexual harassment training to all nonsupervisory employees,” once every two years.

Updated Regulations for Sexual Harassment Training in 2021

Revisions to Senate Bill 1343 have been made in the past year. Below are the regulations that employers should be aware of:

• Employers must provide supervisory workers with at least 2 hours of anti-sexual harassment.
• Employers must provide nonsupervisory workers with at least 1 hour of anti-sexual harassment training.
• Workers hired after January 1, 2021 must complete training within six months of hire or promotion, and every two years thereafter.
• Workers hired for less than six months must receive training within the first 30 days of hire or before they work 100 hours.
• Employers must provide workers with an informational poster of anti-sexual harassment in accordance with the DFEH.
• Training includes harassment based on sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender identity.

Important Resources for California Employers

The DFEH provides a free anti-sexual harassment training course that satisfies the requirements put forth by SB1343. This training course is accessible on any computer or mobile device and is available in a diverse selection of languages. Remember to remind your employees to save or print their certificates of completion.

Employers can also work with an employment lawyer to guide them through the course and to put together a written harassment prevention policy.

Key Takeaways

Under California’s DFEH, employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment in the workplace. Given this, it is important for employers to follow these new anti-sexual harassment training requirements as soon as possible.

If you are having trouble navigating the legal requirements for harassment training, please don’t hesitate to contact Hackler Flynn & Associates.

DISCLAIMER: Content within this post should not be considered legal advice and is for informational purposes only. Communications made through this post do not create an attorney-client relationship. Hackler Flynn & Associates is not responsible for any content that you may access from third-party resources that may be accessed through or linked to this post. Hackler Flynn & Associates is only licensed to practice in California.