I just read that the Governor signed a new law that changes the timing for the new sexual harassment training. What are the new deadlines for getting my employees trained?
For many years, employers with 50 or more employees were required to provide supervisors with two hours of sexual harassment prevention training every two years. Last year, SB 1343 was signed into law that required all employers with 5 or more employees to provide the same training to supervisors and one hour of training to employees. This training had to be completed by January 1, 2020, giving employers little time to meet the new mandate.
However, on August 30 of this year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 778, which extends this training deadline from January 1, 2020 to January 1, 2021.
Those businesses that were providing training long before SB 1343 was made law must continue to follow their two-year training cycles. So, if you trained your supervisors in 2017, then those supervisors must be retrained before January 1, 2020.
As for employees newly hired or employees newly promoted to a supervisory position, they must be trained within six months of hire or promotion, regardless of whether you fell under the old or newly enacted law.
Employer Training Deadlines
The chart provides a quick breakdown of training deadlines for employers who have trained employees this year or in previous years.
| Year you last trained | Next required training year | Explanation |
| 2019 | 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. |
| 2018 | 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. |
| 2017 | 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. |
CalChamber Resources
The California Chamber of Commerce offers individual, self-paced training in English or Spanish. Available are both a 2-hour online supervisor version and a 1-hour online employee version.
To learn more, visit store.calchamber.com.
Column based on questions asked by callers on the Labor Law Helpline, a service to California Chamber of Commerce preferred and executive members. For expert explanations of labor laws and Cal/OSHA regulations, not legal counsel for specific situations, call (800) 348-2262 or submit your question at www.hrcalifornia.com.
