SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING CALIFORNIA (PREVENTION)

 

Since 2005, Assembly Bill 1825 has required private sector employers with 50 or more employees and all public employers provide two hours of sexual harassment training to supervisory employers within six months of assuming a supervisory position and again at least every two years.

As part of the 2018 Legislative Session, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1343, which expands existing harassment training requirements to lower the private sector employer threshold down to 5 or more employees and to mandate one hour of harassment training for nonsupervisory employees of qualified employers, which includes all public agencies.

Some employers erroneously believe that they only need to provide Sexual Harassment Training California and other forms of workplace harassment prevention training to employees in states and local jurisdictions that have statutes requiring such training. While California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, New York State, and New York City have passed statutes requiring sexual harassment training, other federal and state laws, regulations, and court decisions have made clear that employers should provide anti-harassment training to all employees in all states. This page describes why sexual harassment training is essential in all states. At the bottom of the page, you will find information on the sexual harassment training requirements of each state.

The law becomes effective January 1, 2019, it requires most existing nonsupervisory employees to undergo harassment training by January 1, 2020. In the case of temporary and seasonal employees, such training must be provided within certain timelines after January 1, 2020. To assist employers in satisfying this obligation, SB 1343 also directs the DFEH to develop and make available two interactive, online training courses – a two-hour training for supervisory employees and a one-hour training for nonsupervisory employees. For additional information click here.

State Statutes Requiring or Encouraging Training

Connecticut and Maine have long required employers to provide California sexual harassment training at least once. Connecticut previously required the training only of supervisors. Connecticut now requires harassment training for all employees by October 1, 2020. Since California AB 1825 became effective in 2005, California has required sexual harassment training for supervisors every two years. SB 1343 expanded that requirement so California employers are now required to train all employees by January 1, 2021, and every two years thereafter. New York State and New York City have passed laws requiring annual sexual harassment training for all employees, with the first training having been due by October 9, 2019. Delaware also passed a law requiring sexual harassment training every two years, with an initial deadline of January 1, 2020. Finally, Illinois passed SB75, which requires sexual harassment training annually for all employees starting in 2020. In addition to the above mentioned states that require employers to provide sexual harassment training, many other states, such as Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, and Vermont, Wisconsin, have laws that “encourage” employers to provide such training.

State Courts

Some state courts have interpreted their state anti-harassment laws to make harassment training essential. For example, in Gaines v. Bellino, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that, in determining whether an employer is liable for co-worker harassment, the Court would examine factors such as whether the employer had provided anti-harassment training. According to the Court, the anti-harassment training “must be mandatory for supervisors and managers, and must be available to all employees of the organization.” An employer’s training obligations can also go beyond training permanent employees. In 2015, in Jones v. Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey ruled against an employer in a motion for summary judgment in part because the employer had not provided harassment prevention training to a temporary employee.

EEOC

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued guidelines, which apply to employers in all states, stating that employers periodically “should provide [harassment prevention] training to all employees to ensure they understand their rights and responsibilities.” Further, the EEOC’s 2016 Report from the Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace noted that “training should be conducted and reinforced on a regular basis for all employees.”

Federal Courts

State or Federal Court? - Center for American ProgressFederal court decisions for years have shown that employers who do not train all employees may lose their ability to avoid punitive damages in a harassment lawsuit. In the Kolstad v. American Dental Association case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that employers could avoid punitive damages in harassment and discrimination cases if the employer could show that it had made “good faith efforts” to prevent harassment and discrimination.  In determining “good faith efforts,” the Court held that:

The purposes underlying Title VII are. . . advanced where employers are encouraged to adopt anti-discrimination policies and to educate their personnel on Title VII’s prohibitions.

Many lower courts have ruled that to avoid punitive damages employers must have provided Workplace Harassment Training California. In Swinton v. Potomac Corporation, for example, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a punitive damage award of $1 million in a racial harassment case, noting in part that the company had not educated its workforce on its harassment policy. Likewise, in Hanley v. Doctors Hospital of Shreveport, the court upheld a jury’s award of punitive damages in a sexual harassment and retaliation case in part because the employer had not provided its employees sexual harassment training.

Decisions by federal courts have shown that employers who fail to provide harassment prevention training may even lose their ability to raise an affirmative defense in a harassment lawsuit. In the joint cases of Faragher v. City of Boca Raton and Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an employer could escape liability for “hostile environment” harassment committed by a supervisor if it could prove that: (1) the employer took reasonable care to “prevent and correct promptly” any harassing behavior; and (2) the harassment victim unreasonably failed to complain.

Since the Supreme Court’s decisions in the Faragher and Ellerth cases, courts around the country have made clear that to raise an affirmative defense to harassment claims, employers cannot simply have a harassment policy; in addition, they should provide their employees harassment training. For example, in the 2015 case of Pullen v. Caddo Parish Sch. Bd., the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that an employer was not entitled to summary judgment in part because it had not provided harassment prevention training to its employees.  Similarly, in Marrero v. Goya of Puerto Rico, Inc. the First Circuit ruled against an employer that had not provided harassment prevention training to the plaintiff employees. In addition to federal appellate court decisions, several federal trial courts have reached similar conclusions. (See, Clark v. UPS; Miller v. Woodharbor Molding & Millworks, Inc.; Hill v. The Children’s Village.)

As these examples make clear, employers’ views on harassment prevention training must shift from “nice-to-have” to “must-have”—for all employees in all states. This paradigm shift should help reduce the occurrence of workplace harassment and protect employers from liability in high-stakes harassment lawsuits.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT PREVENTION LAW IN CALIFORNIA [UPDATED]

Effective starting January 1, 2019, all employers in California with 5 or more employees are required to provide the necessary sexual harassment training to all employees.

The training is mandated under SB 1343. Employers must comply with the initial training requirement on January 1, 2020. Succeeding training must then be provided with every after two years. Moreover, before going to the details, here are some important points that employers and employees should know about sexual harassment training.

Importance of Sexual Harassment Prevention Training

Preventing any type of harassment in the workplace is the primary weapon against any kind of harassment. It must also be noted that these types of cases and actions do not disappear on its own. Instead, it must be recognized, addressed, and remedied in order to deter any kind of harassment. Aside from learning the updates on Sexual Harassment Prevention Training California laws (2019), it is essential to understand the different responsibilities of the different parties in the workplace.

• The responsibility of the Employer

The employer has the burden to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. It is their responsibility to inform and educate their employees not to discriminate and harass their colleagues or managers. With this on hand, the company must have a clear statement, intent, and commitment against deterring and fighting sexual harassment. Anti-harassment policies must also be created and explained to all employees. Everyone in the work environment must understand that any type of harassment will not be tolerated. The policies of the company must highlight this, too, and any reports of harassment must also be investigated and dealt with immediately.

• The responsibility of the Employee

The employees are also expected to carry out their responsibility in the workplace regarding preventing sexual harassment. They are supposed to carry out the following:

• Understand, learn, examine, and adhere to the policies of the company.
• Be aware and conscious of how they engage with their colleagues and must discourage any actions and behaviour that relates to, can be considered or encourages harassment.
• Confront or report any colleague or managers that have shown actions that can be considered as harassment.

Workforce Management - Best Practices to Espouse

Workforce management solutions refer to software that help businesses in automating and streamlining processes related to these points.

• Manage the time of employees.
• Organize the workforce more efficiently.
• Ensure employee welfare and safety.

Enable ESS or Employee Self-Service which is a system allowing employees to access HR-related information through a company web portal.

Effective Management

An effective workforce management platform should include all required activities for maintaining a productive workforce. This encompasses all functions and procedures to efficiently operate projects an see to it that the right staffing is achieved. 

By using techniques and applications that go beyond conventional compliance and automation, HR departments can become strategic in delivering value across the organization. Leading Human Resources systems do no use incongruent tools and outdated information technology, Instead, they employ integrated and strategic workforce management solutions that conform to requirements of sophisticated digital enterprises. Actually, there are several practices that HR teams can adopt to pave the way for effective workforce management.

Identify Appropriate Systems

Of course, the first step is to employ an experienced, dedicated, and hard-working workforce. Once this is done, the second is to identify targets and objectives to find solutions. To accomplish these, it is necessary to do research and conduct due diligence using the available tools. Ensure that there is a functional system that improves visibility by allowing monitoring with regard to the following: 

Client contracts, jobs, services, and feedback that the company needs to provide Important employee information associated with their skill sets, personal data like addresses, preferences, work performance, sick leave, and other details.

Systematic Policies and Procedures

As soon as solutions are identified, it is time to organize the organization’s internal policies and procedures. This may call for updating communications and conducting employee awareness or information sessions.

Open Lines of Communications

In an organization, it is vital to have clear and transparent communications between management and employees. It encourages them to raise any problems, concerns, and suggestions to managers. These include working conditions, work-life balance, customer interactions, and efficiency.

Use of Cutting-Edge Technology

There are many kinds of software that businesses can acquire and use. Ideally, it is important to determine the best options for the company. These could be apps capable of integrating payroll and benefits, timekeeping software, performance management, self-service portals, scheduling, applicant tracking, and HR administration. In fact, most of these programs can help teams make projections and plan for the organization’s future. 

The key is to use the right technology in making workforce management an effective and clear-cut process. Then, HR can easily manage all aspects related to the workforce, shift scheduling, payroll, operational needs, and client requirements. A ground-breaking work force management solution enables administration and tracking of everything that has something to do with labor efficiency. It can be attained with minimal effort and minus all the manual tasks or materials. If you need a provider of workforce management solutions, don’t hesitate to contact PCS Prostaff is a listed in best workforce management companies in California.

PCS ProStaff Inc.

Address: 441 West MacKay Dr. San Bernardino, 

CA 92408, United States, California

Phone: +1 866-413-4103

Business Email: info@pcs-consultants.com