California has often led the charge when it comes to passing laws that address the responsibilities which employers have to their workers. That trend continues with the enactment on September 29, 2004 of Assembly Bill 1825 ("AB 1825"), which mandates new sexual harassment training requirements for California businesses with at least 50 workers.
Beginning on January 1, 2005, all California employers with 50 or more employees or contractors will be required to provide at least 2 hours of sexual harassment training to all supervisory employees who have not received such training in 2003 or 2004. All newly hired supervisors (including persons newly promoted to supervisor) will also be required to undergo 2 hours of sexual harassment training within 6 months of their hiring or promotion. In addition, beginning on January 1, 2006, employers will need to provide on-going training for all supervisors, consisting of at least 2 hours of harassment training every two years.
While employers have voluntarily trained their employees for years on harassment issues, the new law sets forth specific guidelines for such training. These guidelines require all covered employers to audit any existing training programs and implement changes in areas where their current training methods do not meet minimum standards. Regular record-keeping and audit procedures will need to be put in place to ensure continuing compliance. In addition, the new training guidelines may become the standard of care against which all harassment training programs will be measured, even if those programs are being used for non-supervisory employees or employers with fewer than 50 workers.
