Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825)
Regulations at a Glance
NEWS UPDATE - AB 1825 Regulations Finalized and APPROVED
San Francisco, July 18, 2007 - California’s Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC) final regulations mandating Sexual Harassment Prevention Training have been approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). These regulations interpret the state's “Harassment Training and Education” law commonly known as AB 1825 (California Government Code § 12950.1). As a result of the OAL's action, the regulations will become effective on August 17, 2007. Employers must now carefully follow the AB 1825 regulations, as “good faith efforts” to comply will no longer suffice.
The AB 1825 Regulations at a Glance:
The law requires any employer engaged in any business or enterprise in California, who employs 50 or more employees (full-time, part-time or temporary), to provide “supervisors” with a minimum two hours of harassment training.
The law also applies to any person acting as an agent of an employer (directly or indirectly) and mandates sexual harassment prevention (AB 1825) training for supervisory employees who work for any political or civil subdivision of California state, city or county regardless of the number of employees.
E-Learning Qualifies as “Effective, Interactive Training.” California's Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825) law endorses e-learning when the course content is developed by an instructional designer(s) who is provided content material by a trainer with specific credentials and that the instruction includes:
- Questions that assess learning;
- Skill-building activities that assess the supervisor’s application and understanding of content learned;
- Numerous hypothetical scenarios about harassment, each with one or more discussion questions so that supervisors remain engaged in the training.
“Two Hours” of Training. The regulations provide that with regard to e-learning, “two hours” of training means a program that takes the supervisor no less than two hours to complete. The training does not need to be completed in two consecutive hours. E-learning courses may include bookmarking features, which allow supervisors to pause their individual training provided that the actual time spent in the training is two hours.
“Question & Answer” Feature in E-Learning Programs. According to the regulations, e-learning programs must give supervisors a link to, or directions regarding how to, ask a question and have it answered. The question must be answered by a trainer no more than two business days after the supervisor poses the question.
Training Frequency. Employers may use either "individual tracking" or "training year" tracking (or a combination thereof), to track supervisors' training completion and the employer's compliance with the law:
- "Individual tracking" allows employers to track individual supervisor's training status, measured two years from the date of the supervisors' training.
- "Training year tracking" allows employers to designate a "training year" in which they train some or all of their supervisors. Employers must retrain supervisors by the end of the next “training year,” two years later.
- New supervisors must be trained within six months of assuming their supervisory position and once every two years thereafter, measured either from the individual or training year tracking method. Employers cannot extend the training year for new supervisors beyond the initial two-year training year.
Training Documentation and Duplicate Training. Employers must document employees' training and maintain the records (for a minimum of two years) which include:
- Supervisor’s name;
- Date of training;
- Type of training; and
- The name of the training provider.
If a supervisor has received Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825) training within the prior two years, either from a current, prior, alternate or joint employer, the supervisor is only required to read and to acknowledge receipt of the employer’s anti-harassment policy within six months of assuming his or her new supervisory position or within six months from the time the employer becomes covered by the law. The supervisor then must be put on a two-year tracking schedule based on the supervisor’s last Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825) training.
Compliance Records Must Be Maintained for at Least Two Years. Workplace
Answers' provides documentation through its SLATE Learning Management System (LMS); documentation includes each supervisor's name and training
date, the type of training and name of the trainer, educator, instructional
designer or vendor. The SLATE LMS provides clients with
easy, downloadable access to this information.
Sexual Harassment and the Other Protected Categories. Federal and state laws require Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825) training to provide a definition of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation; the training may provide a definition of, and train about, other forms of unlawful harassment and discuss how harassment can cover more than one basis. However, it is clearly the intent of the FEHC that the large majority of the training be Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825).
Additional Training Content Requirements. The Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825) training must discuss statutory law and case law principles regarding unlawful sexual harassment as well as the type of conduct that constitutes sexual harassment, remedies available for sexual harassment and strategies to prevent it in the workplace. The training must include “practical examples,” such as factual scenarios taken from case law, news and media accounts, hypothetical situations based on real workplace encounters and other sources which illustrate sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation using training modalities such as role plays, case studies and group discussions.
Additional subjects that must be covered in the Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825) training include the limited confidentiality of the complaint process, the resources available for victims of unlawful sexual harassment (such as to whom they should report any alleged sexual harassment), the employer’s obligation to conduct an effective workplace investigation of a harassment complaint and training on what to do if the supervisor is personally accused of harassment.
Lastly, Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825) training must cover the essential elements of the employer's anti-harassment policy and how to utilize it if a harassment complaint is filed. Either the employer’s policy or a sample policy must be provided for supervisors to review.
Workplace Answers' 2007 Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825) training meets the legal requirements mandated by California law and ensures that your organization will be in compliance with California's current Sexual Harassment Prevention (AB 1825) laws. If you have any questions, please contact us at 866-456-5301 or read a specific course description.