California's Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training May Extend To Employers and Supervisors Beyond California's Borders
The Fair Employment and Housing Commission recently released its proposed modifications to California Government Code section 12950.1 (AB 1825), which requires two hours of harassment training for supervisors of employers with 50 or more employees.
The proposed regulation clarifies two main issues that were unclear in AB 1825. First, the proposed regulations state that for the purposes of counting the 50 employees, employees both inside and outside California should be counted. Second, the proposed regulations require sexual harassment training for supervisors who are located outside of California, but supervise employees within California.
It is also important to note that the proposed regulation adds language that harassment training for an employee does not create an inference that that employee is a supervisor. The Commission stated that it "does not want to discourage employers from offering two hours of harassment training to a variety of non-supervisory employees for fear that these employees might be construed to be supervisors on the sole basis that they had received harassment training."
The Commission is seeking written comments on these modifications, which can be submitted until July 21, 2006. The next Commission meeting is set for August 29, 2006, in Riverside, California. At this meeting the Commission will decide whether to adopt these proposed regulations, modify the regulations, or make further changes. For more information regarding the proposed regulation, the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission's web site can be found here.