California Releases Free Online Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Courses
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has released its long-awaited free online sexual harassment prevention training courses. The training courses are available here. Employees must be paid for time spent taking this training.
The Law
California law requires all employers with five or more employees to provide one hour of sexual harassment and abusive conduct prevention training to nonsupervisory employees and two hours of training to supervisors and managers once every two years. (Employers with 50 or more employees were already required to provide training to supervisors.) Current employees must receive training by January 1, 2021. Beginning January 1, 2021, new supervisory employees in workplaces of five or more employees must be trained within six months of assuming their supervisory position, and new nonsupervisory employees must be trained within six months of hire.
Employer Requirements
Employers must retain a record of all employees’ training for a minimum of two years. At the end of the training, employees will be able to save, print, take a screenshot, or email their certificate of completion. Make sure employees know how they should save the certificate before they begin.
Employers must also provide employees this poster, this fact sheet, or equivalent information. To learn more about these requirements, please see the DFEH’s Frequently Asked Questions.
Training Will Not Save Progress
The training module will not save an employee’s progress, so if employees refresh or reload a page, they may have to restart from the beginning. Ensure that employees take the training at a time when they can complete it in one sitting and that they are aware that refreshing or reloading could cause them to lose their progress.
If you have any questions or we can assist you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us at (800) 282-9786 or email us at info@aherninsurance.com.
