Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Every 2 Years

Did You Know…

Supervisors are required to go through a two-hour sexual Harassment Prevention training every 2 years?

Sexual harassment legislation in California requires businesses to post a sign outside their building stating that they prohibit “unwelcome touching, harassment or lewd conduct” regardless of whether their workplace contains a sex-segregated bathroom or locker room.

In California, any employee who is in the workplace and is a woman and who is forced or coerced to engage in sexual activities is protected. Additionally, employees in the following workplaces are protected.

Sexual harassment protections in workplace have increased by over 20 percent over the past four years, and harassment claims have risen by over 43 percent. Last year, employers admitted to over 620,000 instances of workplace harassment.

Sexual harassment is a persistent pattern of unwanted advances, persistent requests for sexual favors, and the failure or refusal to stop. A supervisor should be held accountable for the misconduct.

Sexual harassment of minors Sexual harassment of employees of a minor is a more serious violation of Title VII than sexual assault of a minor or abuse by an employee of a minor. Title VII’s protections apply to any employee who works with or near children under the age of 18 who have attained the age of majority (i.e. 18 years).

Sexual harassment of employees of a minor is a more serious violation of Title VII than sexual assault of a minor or abuse by an employee of a minor. Title VII’s protections apply to any employee who works with or near children under the age of 18 who have attained the age of majority (i.e. 18 years). Sexual harassment of employees of military forces

Under AB 1825, now included in California Government Code, training must be repeated every 2 years. Safety Training Specialist, Inc. can provide that training for you.

We have 2 opportunities for you to consider

• Two 2-hour sessions of Sexual Harassment Training for Supervisors. This way you will always have half of your supervisory team on the job.

OR

• One 2-hour session of Sexual Harassment Training for Supervisors and one 2-hour session of Drug and Alcohol Reasonable Suspicion Training for Supervisors.

Below are the basic provisions of the AB 1825

• 50 or More Employees. AB 1825 applies only to organizations that regularly employ 50 or more employees or regularly “receive the services of” 50 or more persons. (Independent contractors and temps are included in 50+ number.)
• Two Hours of Training Every Two Years. The deadline for the first round of AB 1825 training was December 31, 2005. Thereafter, employers must provide two hours of sexual harassment training to each supervisory employee, every two years.
• New Hires and Promotions. New supervisory employees must be trained within six months of their assumption of a supervisory position, and thereafter, every two years.
• High Quality Training Required. The training mandated by California’s AB 1825 must be of a high quality, conducted via “classroom or other effective interactive training” and must include the following topics:
• Information and practical guidance regarding federal and state statutory laws about sexual harassment.
• Information about the correction of sexual harassment and the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment.
• Practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
• Failure to Comply Opens the Door to Harassment Lawsuits. A claim than an employer failed to provide AB 1825-mandated sexual harassment training does not automatically result in the liability of an employer for harassment. Plaintiffs will argue, however, that the failure to meet the new training mandates is evidence of an employer’s failures to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.

Employers are responsible for providing sexual harassment training to all employees.

Sexual harassment training may include, but is not limited to

• Sexual harassment training for managers, senior managers, and employees at the level of a senior manager
• Training that is gender-balanced, with the focus being on sexual harassment of women and sexual harassment of men
• Training that is race-balanced, with the focus being on issues of sexual discrimination
• Training that is disability-related, with the focus falling on harassment of persons with disabilities, which includes a variety of behaviors that may not be criminal in nature
• Training of employees and supervisors that includes training in how to identify and address sexual harassment
• Training aimed at preventing discrimination
• Training for employees who have experienced sexual harassment and survivors of sexual harassment, so that they will be prepared to come forward, speak up, and work collaboratively in the future
• Disruption of an event that is expected to be a forum regarding sexual harassment, which is not a legal proceeding
• Harassment training in which the issue of sexual harassment