Some California employers now have until January 1, 2021 to train employees on sexual harassment prevention—a one-year extension of the original January 1, 2020 deadline.
The deadline was not extended for employers of seasonal and temporary employees who are hired to work for less than six months. Starting January 1, 2020, these employees must be trained within 30 calendar days after their hire date or within 100 hours worked, whichever occurs first.
Employer Training Deadlines
Under the new law, SB 778, all employees—supervisory and nonsupervisory—must be trained by January 1, 2021.
Below is a quick breakdown for employers who’ve trained employees this year or in previous years.
• Year you last trained: 2019; Next required training: 2021. SB 778 clarifies that employers who train their employees in 2019 aren’t required to provide refresher training until two years from the time the employee was trained
• Year you last trained: 2018; Next required training: 2020. SB 778 allows those employers who trained employees in 2018 to maintain their two-year cycle and still comply with the new January 1, 2021, deadline.
• Year you last trained: 2017; Next required training: 2019. Employers who trained supervisors in 2017 under prior law, known as AB 1825, should still train those employees this year in order to maintain their two-year cycle.
The bill does not affect the portion of the law addressing seasonal and temporary workers.
CalChamber Resources
The California Chamber of Commerce makes it easy to effectively train employees and fulfill compliance obligations. Learners can take their individual, self-paced training in English or Spanish when it best fits their schedules. The CalChamber has both a 2-hour Supervisor version and a 1-hour Employee version.
Also available is an updated free Required Harassment Prevention Training FAQs white paper, which answers many employers’ questions about complying with the new training requirements.
