Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825)

Specifics of the FEHC Regulations

 




Workplace Answers’ Sexual Harassment Prevention for Supervisors Exceeds the Sexual Harassment Prevention Requirements for “Effective, Interactive Training”:

CCR §7288.0 (a)(11)(E) For any of the above training methods, the instruction shall include questions that assess learning, skill-building activities that assess the supervisor’s application and understanding of content learned, and numerous hypothetical scenarios about harassment, each with one or more discussion questions so that supervisors remain engaged in the training.

Workplace Answers’ Proprietary “Pace Meter” Monitoring Ensures Supervisors Spend No Less Than Two Hours in the Training:

CCR §7288.0 (a)(10) “Two hours” of  training is two hours of classroom training or two hours of webinar training or, in the case of an e-learning training, a program that takes the supervisor no less than two hours to complete.

 

Workplace Answers’ “Question & Answer” and Support Features Meets the Regulation’s Q&A Requirement:  

CCR §7288.0 (a)(2)(B) An e-learning program shall provide a link or directions on how to directly contact a trainerwho shall be available to answer questions and to provide guidance and assistance about the training within a reasonable period of time after the supervisor asks the question, but no more than two business days after the question is asked.

Workplace Answers’ Sexual Harassment Prevention Course is Designed by Instructional Designers with Content Created by "Trainers":

CCR §7288.0 “Instructional Designer” under this section is an individual with expertise in current instructional best practices, and who develops the training content based upon material provided by a "trainer."
(c) “Trainers” or “Trainers or educators”  qualified to provide training under this section are individuals who, through a combination of training and experience have the ability to train supervisors about the following:

  1. What are unlawful harassment, discrimination and retaliation under both California and federal law;
  2. What steps to take when harassing behavior occurs in the workplace;
  3. How to report harassment complaints;
  4. How to respond to a harassment complaint;
  5. The employer’s obligation to conduct a workplace investigation of a harassment complaint;
  6. What constitutes retaliation and how to prevent it;
  7. Essential components of an anti-harassment policy; and
  8. The effect of harassment on harassed employees, co-workers, harassers and employers.

A trainer shall be one or more of the following:

1. “Attorneys” admitted for two or more years to the bar of any state in the United States and whose practice includes employment law under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and/or Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Workplace Answers’ LMS Makes Supervisor Training and Retraining Easy and Trackable:

CCR §7288.0
(b) Training
(1) Frequency of Training: An employer shall provide two hours of training  in the content specified in section 7288.0, subdivision (c), once every two years, and may use either of the following methods or a combination of the two methods to track compliance.
A. “Individual” Tracking: An employer may track its training requirement for each supervisory employee, measured two years from the date of completion of the last training of the individual supervisor.
B. “Training year” tracking: An employer may designate a “training year” in which it trains some or all of its supervisory employees and thereafter must again retrain these supervisors by the end of the next “training year,” two years later.

Thus, supervisors trained in training year 2005 shall be retrained in 2007. For newly hired or promoted supervisors who receive training within six months of assuming their supervisory positions and that training falls in a different training year, the employer may include them in the next group training year, even if that occurs sooner than two years.

An employer shall not extend the training year for the new supervisors beyond the initial two year training year. Thus, with this method, assume that an employer trained all of its supervisors in 2005 and sets 2007 as the next training year. If a new supervisor is trained in 2006 and the employer wants to include the new supervisor in its training year, the new supervisor would need to be trained in 2007 with the employer’s other supervisors.

Workplace Answers’ LMS Provides Complete and Up-to-the-Minute Documentation:

CCR §7288.0
(2) Documentation of Training: An employer shall keep documentation of the training it has provided its employees under this section to track compliance, including the name of the supervisory employee trained, the date of training, the type of training, and the name of the training provider and shall retain the records for a minimum of two years.

Workplace Answers Offers Superior and Engaging Content That Exceeds the Regulation’s Requirement:

CCR §7288.0
(d) Content
The learning objectives of the training mandated by California Government Code section 12950.1 shall be: 1) to assist California employers in changing or modifying workplace behaviors that create or contribute to “sexual harassment” as that term is defined in California and federal law; and 2) to develop, foster and encourage a set of values in supervisory employees who complete mandated training that will assist them in preventing and effectively responding to incidents of sexual harassment.

Towards that end, the training mandated by California Government Code section 12950.1, shall include but is not limited to:

  1. A definition of unlawful sexual harassment under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition to a definition of sexual harassment, an employer may provide a definition of and train about other forms of harassment covered by the FEHA, as specified at Government Code section 12940, subdivision (j), and discuss how harassment of an employee can cover more than one basis.
  2. FEHA and Title VII statutory provisions and case law principles concerning the prohibition against and the prevention of unlawful sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation in employment.
  3. The types of conduct that constitute sexual harassment.
  4. Remedies available for sexual harassment.
  5. Strategies to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
  6. “Practical examples,” such as factual scenarios taken from case law, news and media accounts, hypothetical scenarios based on workplace situations and other sources which illustrate sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation using training modalities such as role plays, case studies and group discussions.
  7. The limited confidentiality of the complaint process.
  8. Resources for victims of unlawful sexual harassment, such as to whom they should report any alleged sexual harassment.
  9. The employer’s obligation to conduct an effective workplace investigation of a harassment complaint.
  10. Training on what to do if the supervisor is personally accused of harassment.
  11. The essential elements of an anti-harassment policy and how to utilize it if a harassment complaint is filed. Either the employer’s policy or a sample policy shall be provided to the supervisors. Regardless of whether the employer’s policy is used as part of the training, the employer shall give each supervisor a copy of its anti-harassment policy and require each supervisor to read and to acknowledge receipt of that policy.