TL,DR: SB 778 extended deadlines are now expiring, and affected employers must train by year-end.
The Training Deadline is the End of This Month.
SB 1343: what changed with SB 778?
California Senate Bill 1343, the requirement that many California employers with five or more employees must provide sexual harassment prevention training to supervisors and non-supervisory employees in 2019, came in force on January 1, 2019. Senate Bill 778, enacted August 30, 2019 to take effect immediately, made some changes to SB 1343’s due dates. But exactly what changed? And perhaps more importantly, what didn’t change?
SB 778 did not lift the training mandate of SB 1343
SB-778 did not remove the training mandate established by SB-1343. While 1343 is very different from the previous law AB 1825, 778 made no changes to 1343’s key provisions, summarized as follows:
 | AB 1825 | SB 1343 as originally enacted | SB 1343 as later amended by SB 778 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effective as of | 8/17/2007 | 1/1/2019 | 8/30/2019 |
| Applies to companies of employee size: | 50+ | 5+ | 5+ |
| Training requirement: Supervisors | 2 hours every 2 years | 2 hours every 2 years | 2 hours every 2 years |
| Training requirement: Non-supervisory personnel | No requirement | 1 hour every 2 years | 1 hour every 2 years |
| New hires: nonsupervisors | No training requirement | Must train within 6 months of hire | Must train within 6 months of hire |
| New hires: supervisors | Must train within 6 months of hire | Must train within 6 months of hire | Must train within 6 months of hire |
| New promotions: supervisors | Must train within 6 months of assumption of new duties | Must train within 6 months of assumption of new duties | Must train within 6 months of assumption of new duties |
778 gave more time to train certain employees, and also clarified that re-training certain supervisors was not required in 2019.
SB-778 extended the deadline for employers to train non-supervisory personnel that were not 2019 new hires (hire date 2018 or earlier). In addition, 778 clarified that supervisors who received AB-1825 training in 2018 did not have to retrain in 2019, although they may do so for employer convenience.
| SB 1343 as originally enacted | SB 1343 as later amended by SB 778 | Changed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continuing supervisors: last trained in 2017 | Must retrain in 2019 | Must retrain in 2019 | unchanged |
| Continuing supervisors: last trained in 2018 | Language as written suggested must retrain in 2019 | Can retrain in 2019 or 2020 | clarification |
| Continuing employees: non-supervisory personnel | Must train by 1/1/2020 | Must train by 1/1/2021 | new change |
| Seasonal, temporary and other employees that are hired to work for less than 6 months | Beginning 1/1/2020, must train within 30 calendar days of hire, or within 100 hours worked, whichever occurs first. Language included an unclear "or". | Beginning 1/1/2020, must train within 30 calendar days of hire, or within 100 hours worked, whichever occurs first. "Or" changed to "and" to include all employee types at left. | clarification |
| Migrant and seasonal agricultural workers | Beginning 1/1/2020, must receive non-supervisory training (1 hr) | Beginning 1/1/2020, must receive non-supervisory training (1 hr) | unchanged |
| Temporary workers provided by a temp or staffing agency | Must be trained by providing agency | Must be trained by providing agency | unchanged |
| After above, refresher training required | Every 2 years, but language was unclear | Every 2 years | clarification |
Most California employers need a sexual harassment prevention training solution in place NOW.
While SB-778 extended the time remaining to train certain subgroups of employees, employers who are subject to SB-1343 still needed to have a qualified-trainer-provided sexual harassment prevention training solution in place for calendar 2019.
This is because new hires must still receive the new training within their first six months of employment, and newly-promoted supervisors must still receiving training within six months of assuming their new duties. SB-778 didn’t extend this requirement.
In addition, the seasonal and temporary workers provisions of SB-1343 went in force January 1, 2020. This means that employees who are expected to work less than six months must train within their first 30 days, or 100 hours of work, whichever comes first. For some employers in peak season, this could mean within an employee’s first two weeks on the job.
California Required Training Solutions provides fast, easy, cost-effective, qualified-trainer-provided sexual harassment prevention training online. Our courses are easy to purchase singly or in bulk, and unused course links do not expire. We are currently offering very competitive sale prices. Since we make it so easy to comply with the regulations, why not sign up and get your entire staff compliant today?
We can get your whole staff SB1343-compliant faster and for MUCH less than the competition.
California Required Training Solutions provides fast, easy, cost-effective, qualified-trainer-provided sexual harassment prevention training online. Our courses are easy to purchase singly or in bulk, and unused course links do not expire. We are currently offering very competitive sale prices. Since we make it so easy to comply with the regulations, why not sign up and get your entire staff compliant today?