Are You in Compliance? California's Sexual Harassment Law AB 1825
This is a reminder that 2009 is a “Renewal” year for harassment prevention training.
Recently a business owner asked me whether she needed to be concerned with California 's new Sexual Harassment law, AB1825. This business owner runs her company with 18 full-time, 20 part-time employees, 8 temp workers, and 5 sales subcontractors who are located in several states.
Requirement: 50 + employees
On the surface it appears that she does not meet the 50+ employee requirement that determines whether she must train her supervisors. Taking a closer look at the law, however, reveals that temporary service workers and independent contractors, regardless of where they are located are included in the total count of employees. In addition, it's always a good idea for ANY employer to provide harassment training to its employees regardless of size, as ALL employers are responsible for providing a harassment-free workplace.
Requirement: Training must encompass all aspects of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
The training must address retaliation and: sex, race/color, religion, age, and national origin harassment and discrimination. Typically previous trainings did not include these areas.
Another business owner wanted to know whether or not they could continue to train in the same manner as the previous year's training.
Requirement: Training must be a minimum of two hours, include an interactive component, testing component, and a system in place to track and document employee participation and compliance.
The answer is maybe yes, maybe no. If the training included all forms of harassment and discrimination AND was 2+ hours of training time AND included interactive activities AND tracked employee participation throughout the training (not just through sign in/out sheets) AND assessed their understanding of the material AND you can provide proof, then yes, continue to train as in previous years.
Another business owner, one on a very tight budget, commented "it is good that I only have to train 5 supervisors, because I can't afford to train more."
Requirement: Businesses must provide a harassment-free workplace for everyone
With this in mind, how harassment-free will the workplace be if this owner only trains the supervisors? Or if a company with 49 employees trains no one? And if a claim is made by an employee, will the money saved by limiting training be enough to pay for attorneys, lost production time, and/or punitive damages? Probably not.
Conclusion: Regardless of the number of employees, location of employees, or previous training, employers need to both protect their company from harassment and discrimination claims and comply with the law. Ensure that your company is protected by training all employees in harassment and discrimination prevention.
Leslie Philbrook is an authorized harassment and discrimination trainer. Call her to schedule your employee training today at (510) 235-1044 or you can email her at lphilbrook@inconcertfinancialgroup.com |
