A new online sexual harassment prevention training option is aimed at making sure people stay safe online. As more and more people are forced to work from home and communicate online, their safety has come under scrutiny. Sexual harassment in California is a problem, so this required training does not come as a surprise. Reports of sexual harassment are 5% higher for women and 10%higher for men than the national average, according to health.ucsd.

Employers in California now have to provide anti-sexual harassment training for all their employees. This training is legally required and must be done at the latest by 1 January 2021.

Fortunately for companies, the online training is completely free. It was launched by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing on 20 May.

Who Is Expected To Do The Training?

Under California law, employers who have 5 or more employees must give their non-managerial employees at least one hour of this sexual harassment prevention training. 

Any managerial employees have to be given at least 2 hours of training. Although they also have until 1 January to finish their training, it is not covered by the Department’s online program.

Independent contractors and part-time employees are counted among the minimum of 5 employees and should also be given the training. There are some exceptions though with properly classified independent contractors.

Where Does This Legal Requirement Come From?

In 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1343 which created the training mandate. This came after it was concluded that millions of Californian employees may not be aware of their responsibilities and rights under the state’s anti-harassment laws. It was also found that many people might not understand how to detect or report inappropriate behaviour of their colleagues.

Initially, the deadline to provide training was set for January 2020 but this was extended to 2021 by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Details About The Training

All employees who are newly hired have to complete this anti-sexual harassment training within 6 months of being hired (or promoted). On top of that, all employees must complete the training a minimum of every 2 years after the initial training has been completed.

Anyone hired after the deadline of 1 January 2021 who were trained by a previous employer should only be read and acknowledge a receipt of the new employer’s anti-harassment policy. This should be done within 6 months of being hired by the new employer. 

It is the employer’s duty to get a copy of the new employees’ previous training certificate from their previous workplace. From there, training should be tracked, using the completion date of the former training to determine the next date for new training. Employers also have to make sure that the previous training was compliant with the law.

The extended deadline for completion of the training did not apply to certain temporary workers or seasonal workers. They should have been completing the anti-sexual training since January 2020 already. That is, unless a certificate of previous training can be provided to prove it has been completed before.

How Is The Training Done?

According to California law, the anti-sexual harassment training must be done through a webinar, online or in person. With the Coronavirus currently prohibiting movement and contact, most employers are opting for the online training through the Department or another legal training provider. However, there is no excuse for not having the training done – sexual harassment in California is a serious matter.

As of now, the training program by the Department is only available in English, but will be available in more languages in the future. The languages that employees will be able to choose from (in addition to English) are Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Spanish and Vietnamese. 

The online training can be done on a mobile device or desktop computer.

Official Requirements 

There are many requirements that employers must meet to avoid getting into hot water with the law. With sexual harassment in California being so high and such a big problem, it is no wonder that employers are held more responsible for the behaviour of their employees.

All employers are expected to keep a record of all their employees’ training. This record must be kept for a minimum of 2 years. Every 2 years, additional training on sexual harassment as well as abusive conduct prevention must be given to all employees.

Employers have to give their employees a fact sheet or poster with information about sexual harassment that was developed by the Department. If such a poster or fact sheet cannot be obtained, equivalent information must be made available.

What Counts As Sexual Harassment?

According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the following behaviour is considered sexual harassment:

Any sexual advances that are unwelcome, any verbal or physical behaviour that is sexual in nature and requests for sexual-themed favours.

The verbal or sexual conduct could explicitly (or implicitly) affect an person’s employment. It could interfere with a person’s work performance or create a work environment that is hostile, offensive or intimidating.

The first step towards preventing and stopping sexual harassment in the workplace is to educate all employees (and employers) on what is acceptable and what is not. People need to be educated on what counts as sexual harassment.

Supervisors and managers must also receive additional training on how to handle cases of sexual harassment in the workplace in a proper manner. 

The final step would be to set up a correct process that must be followed when sexual harassment has taken place. Complaints must be handled with professionalism and care. Investigations into these allegations and complaints must be also be handled with care. 

Once that is done, the correct measures must be taken to deal with the findings of the investigation.

If an employee has been the victim of sexual harassment, they do not have to keep quiet about it. Victims can hire a  top sexual harassment lawyer who serves all of California and the right steps will be taken. Although it can be difficult to deal with the situation, victims are better off getting everything out in the open rather than not talking about it.