Further Revisions To California's Required Sexual Harassment Training
Today, the Fair Employment & Housing Commission posted on its website the revised sexual harassment training and education regulations that it adopted in its August 29, 2006 meeting.
On August 29, 2006, the Commission adopted modified proposed regulations on Harassment Training and Education, interpreting Government Code section 12950.1 [A.B. 1825], which requires harassment training for supervisors of employers with 50 or more employees. The August 29, 2006, regulations modify earlier June 20, 2006 regulations, which this blog commented about here. The August revisions can be viewed at the Commission’s website here.
The August revisions clarify the issues about who is qualified to design and teach the sexual harassment training, the frequency of training required for supervisors, and whether the sexual harassment training requirement applies to supervisors outside of California. The major revision made in the August proposed regulations clarify that supervisors who are located outside of California and supervise employees within California are not covered by the regulations. Therefore, supervisors located outside of California are not subject to the sexual harassment training requirements under the proposed regulations.
The other clarification made in June 2006 regarding which employees are counted within a company in order to determine whether a company has 50 employees remained unchanged. The proposed regulations state that for the purposes of counting the 50 employees, employees both inside and outside California should be counted.
Additionally, the language added in June that harassment training for an employee does not create an inference that that employee is a supervisor also remained in the proposed regulations. Furthermore, at the August 29th meeting, the Commission added language that a contractor who attends sexual harassment training will also not be inferred to be an “employee or a supervisor” for the employer providing the training. The Commission previously 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.”
On October 2, 2006, the Commission will decide whether to adopt the August 29, 2006, modified regulations or make further changes to its proposed regulations. Anyone interested may submit their comments about the proposed regulations by 5 p.m. on September 15, 2006. Comments can be submitted to:
Ann M. Noel
Executive and Legal Affairs Secretary
Fair Employment and Housing Commission
455 Golden Gate Avenue, Suite 10600
San Francisco, CA 94102
email: regs@fehc.ca.gov
Carlton DiSante & Freudenberger LLP offers training conducted by its attorneys that fully complies with the requirements of California Government Code Section 12950.1 (AB 1825) and is actively monitoring the proposed regulations discussed above to ensure compliance. For more information about CDF’s training classes, click here.
On August 29, 2006, the Commission adopted modified proposed regulations on Harassment Training and Education, interpreting Government Code section 12950.1 [A.B. 1825], which requires harassment training for supervisors of employers with 50 or more employees. The August 29, 2006, regulations modify earlier June 20, 2006 regulations, which this blog commented about here. The August revisions can be viewed at the Commission’s website here.
The August revisions clarify the issues about who is qualified to design and teach the sexual harassment training, the frequency of training required for supervisors, and whether the sexual harassment training requirement applies to supervisors outside of California. The major revision made in the August proposed regulations clarify that supervisors who are located outside of California and supervise employees within California are not covered by the regulations. Therefore, supervisors located outside of California are not subject to the sexual harassment training requirements under the proposed regulations.
The other clarification made in June 2006 regarding which employees are counted within a company in order to determine whether a company has 50 employees remained unchanged. The proposed regulations state that for the purposes of counting the 50 employees, employees both inside and outside California should be counted.
Additionally, the language added in June that harassment training for an employee does not create an inference that that employee is a supervisor also remained in the proposed regulations. Furthermore, at the August 29th meeting, the Commission added language that a contractor who attends sexual harassment training will also not be inferred to be an “employee or a supervisor” for the employer providing the training. The Commission previously 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.”
On October 2, 2006, the Commission will decide whether to adopt the August 29, 2006, modified regulations or make further changes to its proposed regulations. Anyone interested may submit their comments about the proposed regulations by 5 p.m. on September 15, 2006. Comments can be submitted to:
Ann M. Noel
Executive and Legal Affairs Secretary
Fair Employment and Housing Commission
455 Golden Gate Avenue, Suite 10600
San Francisco, CA 94102
email: regs@fehc.ca.gov
Carlton DiSante & Freudenberger LLP offers training conducted by its attorneys that fully complies with the requirements of California Government Code Section 12950.1 (AB 1825) and is actively monitoring the proposed regulations discussed above to ensure compliance. For more information about CDF’s training classes, click here.
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