Senate Bill 1343. Here are the basics of SB 1343, the new California sexual harassment prevention training mandate. Includes the company types and workers affected, deadlines, etc.
TL,DR: Nearly every California worker has to take sexual harassment prevention training every two years.
Employees Last Trained in 2022 Are Due For Retraining NOW.
What is California Senate Bill 1343?
California Senate Bill 1343 (SB 1343) is effectively an amendment to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The law went in force on January 1, 2019. The law requires California employers with five or more workers to provide sexual harassment prevention training to their employees every two years.
This new law changed from prior law AB 1825 in that it lowered the threshold triggering the requirement. Where AB 1825 only applied to employers with fifty or more employees, SB 1343 applies to companies of five plus. Also, the new law requires both supervisors and non-supervisors receive training. SB 1343 requires supervisors to receive two hours of training, but non-supervisors must only train for one hour. As the old law only required supervisors to train, this is another big expansion of the training mandate.
Existing law already required training to include harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. The training was to include practical examples of these kinds of harassment. SB 1343 also includes abusive conduct training as part of the sexual harassment prevention training required by law.
There is no requirement that the five workers of the threshold must all work or reside in California.
Senate Bill 1343 Applies to Which Companies?
SB 1343 applies to private employers, all public agencies regardless of size, and most not-for-profit employers.
Under Senate Bill 1343, Which Workers Must Receive the Training?
SB 1343 is enforced and supported by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH, https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/ ). Under the DFEH’s regulations, the definition of “employee” includes full-time, part-time, and temporary employees. SB 1343 specifically requires that migrant and seasonal agricultural workers must be trained. Temporary workers supplied through a temp agency must be trained by that agency.
Who Can Deliver Training?
SB 1343 training must be delivered by a qualified trainer as defined by the regulations.
When are the Deadlines for SB 1343 Training?
Starting in 2019, new hires must be trained within six months of hire. Prior law required that new supervisors be trained within six months of assuming supervisory duties. Prior law also required that supervisors be trained every two years. SB-1343 adds the every two years requirement to non-supervisory employees as well.
Non-supervisory employees who were not new hires in 2019 had to receive training by January 1, 2021. After initial trainings, employees must be re-trained once every two years. Effectively, the rollout of the SB 1343 law means that California workers must complete sexual harassment prevention training in even numbered calendar years.
Starting in 2020, seasonal employees, temporary employees not hired through a temp agency, and employees who will work for less than six months must be trained within 30 calendar days of hire, or within 100 hours worked, whichever comes first.
Is Online Sexual Harassment Prevention Training an Option Under SB 1343?
Under SB 1343, online training delivered under the auspices of a qualified trainer can qualify. Among other requirements, the online training must be “effective interactive training and education”. In its published FAQs (link downloads a PDF), the CA DFEH equates this to individualized, interactive, computer-based training.
California Required Training Solutions delivers individualized, interactive computer-based training under the auspices of a qualified trainer under the statute.
What are the penalties for not complying with the SB-1343 sexual harassment prevention training requirement?
We get it, there have been a few things going on during the years these mandates came into effect. It’s easy to miss a deadline or have a few new hires who complete late. But if you want to know what can happen if you miss a deadline, please see here for the SB-1343 penalties.