Press Release August 17, 2007 California Approves Use of Web-based Training
California Approves Use of Web-based Training to Comply with Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Law
August 17 , 2007 -- For Immediate Release --
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The finalized regulations interpreting California's trend-setting sexual harassment prevention training law, AB 1825, which was passed by the state legislature in 2004, became effective today. The law, which covers employers with fifty (50) or more employees in California, requires all California supervisors to complete two hours of sexual harassment prevention training every two years. The finalized regulations now specify the functions and content that Web-based training programs can provide to be legally defensible and fully compliant.
In 2005, the first training year, the law was silent regarding whether Web-based training would satisfy employers’ AB 1825 training obligations, so many employers opted for traditional instructor-led training. “I spoke to many human resources professionals at the end of 2005 that had literally spent months traveling around the state to train thousands of employees,” said Lynn D. Lieber, Esq., an employment law attorney and CEO of Workplace Answers, Inc., a San Francisco-based online training company.
Starting today, employers must now ensure their sexual harassment prevention training programs comply with the final regulations for the 2007 training year and beyond. The AB 1825 regulations mandate that Web-based training programs must be developed and created by “experts” defined as attorneys, human resource professionals or instructors with specified employment law-related credentials. “It is critical to choose a vendor who knows the law, and not someone who created courseware just to capitalize on the AB 1825 requirements,” Lieber advises.
The AB 1825 regulations also specify that supervisors must spend a full two hours in training. “The Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC), the state agency responsible for the regulations, really investigated the feasibility of the two hour time requirement,” said Lieber. “We were asked to consult with the FEHC and demonstrate our technology solution that tracks individual progress.”
Web-based training also fulfills the regulations’ rules that require employers to keep – for a minimum of two years – detailed records of supervisory training. Workplace Answers provides companies with a hosted Learning Management System, SLATE, that records all required documentation and makes it accessible with the click of a mouse. SLATE also automates registration and reminder e-mails, and enables easy management of the required training for newly hired and promoted supervisors.
Many employers now actually prefer Web-based training to in-person training for AB 1825 compliance. It provides consistent training across dispersed locations, documents employee completions and policy review, and saves on the valuable travel and work time needed by in-person training. “A large employer – even one with thousands of supervisors – can have them all complete a Web-based program in a matter of weeks, not months,” continued Lieber, who’s firm first introduced online compliance training in 1999, “and now there’s a really compelling legal argument that Web-based training is the best solution.”
About Workplace Answers
Workplace Answers is the trusted provider of web-based training solutions for more than one thousand public, private, government, and non-profit organizations. Workplace Answers helps employers to comply with mandatory training laws and regulations, such as state harassment training law (AB 1825) and ethical and financial compliance regulations (SOX). Workplace Answers’ success is reflected in its 95 percent customer-retention rate and the training of more than 1 million employees around the globe since 1999. Clients benefit from the insight of Founder and CEO Lynn D. Lieber, Esq., and an in-house team of legal and subject-matter experts.
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