The 12 Days of California Labor & Employment Series – Day 3: Harassment Training Deadline Extended

It's the end of the year and while everyone is busy, employers in California should be aware of new laws and regulations that go into effect on January 1, 2020. In the spirit of the season, we are using the "12 days of the holidays" to blog daily about one of these new California laws and its impact on California employers. On the third day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: three French hens and SB 778.

Harassment training in California has been a requirement for some time. Prior to 2019, employers with 50 or more employees needed to provide all supervisors and managers with sexual harassment prevention training every other year. Last year, SB 1343 was passed, mandating training for all employers with five or more employees. However, training was no longer solely for supervisory employees—it also included non-supervisory employees. This training was required to be conducted every two years. The initial compliance deadline was January 1, 2020.

The passage of SB 778 extends the deadline set by SB 1343, allowing employers with more than five employees to have the training completed on or before January 1, 2021, instead of January 1, 2020. As we mentioned last year, employers need to determine what training is needed and how they are going to conduct the training in order to comply with the deadline.

While employers have been given a slight reprieve in reference to the training deadline, it is very important that employers determine who will be conducting the training and start scheduling it sooner rather than later. Employers should also remember that any new hires in 2020 must have the training within six months of hire, regardless of this deadline extension. Similarly, if an employee moves into a supervisory role in 2020, their training must be done within six months of assuming the new position. If you were on time with the prior law and conducted your training in 2019, you do not need to complete any further training until 2021.

Tis the season, so a little side note on seasonal and temporary workers: their deadline was extended as well. Seasonal and temporary workers must be provided this training within 30 days or 100 hours of employment, beginning January 1, 2021.