Question: My business has only four part-time employees and one volunteer. I was told that as a small employer I am not required to provide sexual harassment training to my employees. Is this true?
Answer: No. Employers who have five or more employees are required to provide sexual harassment prevention training every two years. Part-time and full-time employees, volunteers, unpaid interns, and independent contractors are counted in calculating the five-employee threshold, and everyone is counted even if they work in separate locations, or do not work or reside in California. While everyone is counted, employers are only required to provide training to California employees. However, the best practice is to provide the training to everyone.
Some of the training requirements include:
1. Timing of Training Requirement
- Supervisorial employees must complete two hours of training every two years and non-supervisorial employees must complete one hour every two years.
- New supervisors must be trained within six months of becoming a supervisor.
- New employees must be trained within six months of their hire date. Employees who previously received training are not required to retake the training for a period of two years from the date of the employee’s last training if (1) the prior training was legally compliant; and (2) the employee reads and acknowledges receipt of the employer’s anti-harassment policy.
- Minors between fourteen and seventeen years old must be trained.
- Temporary and seasonal employees who work less than six months (but not less than 30 days or 100 hours) must be trained within 30 days of hire or 100 work hours, whichever occurs first. Migrant and seasonal agricultural workers have different training requirements.
- New businesses must provide training within six months of their establishment.
2. Record Keeping Requirement
Employers must keep documentation concerning the training for at least two years, including the (1) date of training; (2) type of training given; (3) copy of written/recorded training materials; (4) name of the trainer; (5) names of employees who received the training; and (6) a copy of the certificates of training completion or attendance.
3. Effective Interactive Training Required
The training must be interactive and involve employee participation. The training can be conducted in an in-person group classroom setting, individually online, or in a combination format as long as it is effective interactive training.
Among other requirements, the training must cover federal and state law concerning the prevention, prohibition, and correction of sexual harassment, the available remedies, and information about preventing harassment and abusive conduct based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
4. Qualified Trainer Required
An individual with knowledge, expertise, training, and experience in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation must present the training. Qualified trainers include an attorney licensed in California with at least two years of experience practicing employment law and a human resources professional who is experienced in harassment training, investigation, and employer advisement for at least two years.
5. Posting Requirement
Employers are required to display either a Sexual Harassment poster or fact sheet at each worksite, in an area frequented by employees. When more than 10 percent of the workforce speaks a language other than English, the posting must also be displayed in the other language(s). The poster and fact sheet in several languages are available at https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/posters/.