What Are Your Questions About Anti-Harassment Training?

California’s anti-harassment training law, SB 1343, went into effect in 2018 and was followed up by SB 778, which expanded on the original law; both have served as a source of confusion or overwhelm for many ever since. With these new laws, a greater number of employers must now provide their employees with anti-harassment training. 

We previously provided this overview of the law. Let’s take a moment to answer a few frequently asked questions about it.  

Who must follow SB 1343 and SB 778?

These laws include all employers that employ five (5) or more employees, wherever those employees work and reside, including outside of California. For the purpose of counting, your employees include full time, part time, interns, volunteers and contractors. 

Who must be trained in anti-harassment?

All employees of companies with five (5) or more employees must be trained. Supervisors or those in supervisory roles must receive two (2) hours of training. All other employees must receive one (1) hour of training. 

While volunteers, interns and contractors count toward the number of employees, only those employees within California must be trained.

What kind of training must be provided?

Although the content of the anti-harassment training required is very specific, the law allows for a wide range of training options, including in-person, classroom-style, webinar, e-learning and more. It can be provided to groups as a whole or individuals. However, it should be noted that supervisory training must be interactive in some way.

Who can conduct this anti-harassment training?

According to the law, there are some very specific requirements for the instructors of these trainings. In general, they must be attorneys with two or more years at the bar and experience with employment law OR human resources professionals with two or more years of practical experience in these matters. 

When must the anti-harassment training be completed by?

Originally, SB 1343 stated that all current employees must be trained by January 1, 2020. With the passage of SB 778, it has since changed to January 1, 2021. In addition, all new employees must be trained within six (6) months of hire. The training will then need to be repeated and/or updated every two years with every employee. 

What kind of help is Coastal providing?

In addition to this and other blogs to help get the word out about the law, we are providing our HR Elite clients with specific help, including a number of trainings, in-person and ongoing, so they ensure all their employees, even the newest, are up-to-date. We also help with documentation. You can read more here about how we help our HR Elite clients stay compliant with this law. 

Where can I find out more information?

Here’s the overview we mentioned earlier. 

Here’s the text of the bill.

Here’s the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing Resource page.

Here’s the DFEH FAQ sheet.  

And here’s our contact information if you have specific questions about our trainings and how we can help you stay on target with this new, evolving law.