California requires Business Owners to provide Harassment Prevention Training to their employees in an effort to combat unlawful Harassment in the workplace. Here are some tips on how to comply as a small business owner:
Know What The Requirements Are*
- Nonsupervisory employees need to have 1 hour every two years.
- Supervisory employees must have 2 hours.
- Businesses with 5 or more employees
- Important tip! Don’t forget to include the owner in your employee headcount!
- Training must be completed within the first 6 months of hiring the employee
Know How to Meet Them*
- The training must cover both sexual harassment and abusive conduct prevention in the workplace
- There must be practical examples of harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
Know that the Better your Training is, the More Likely you will Protect yourself from a Devastating Lawsuit
Yes, you must comply with this requirement. But more than compliance, a professional, accurate, interactive and date I say FUN training course on this topic will make it more likely that your employees will stay away from unlawful and unwanted behavior, thus making your job in managing them easier, and your liability less.
Know you Need to Implement a Written Harassment Policy
When in doubt, have a policy on it! Your written Harassment Policy should be signed by employees and retained as record of your company’s efforts to combat unlawful behavior. Then, you should hold employees accountable to abide by it. This is your evidence to defend your business in a lawsuit.
Know How to Keep Accurate Training Records
Keeping accurate and thorough record of the content covered, the dates the training was conducted, and the employee’s sign off to abide by the harassment prevention policies, is your best defense against a harassment lawsuit or a wrongful termination claim. Keeping accurate records can save your business!
*As always, information is not legal advice and is not intended to be comprehensive and should not be relied upon. Readers should consult a lawyer for current up to date standards. Intended for CA audiences only. No Attorney Client relationship is formed by the viewing or interaction of this information.
*Regulations are pulled from DFEH website.