Devoted to Corporate Attorneys, Corporate Lawyers, and Corporate Counsel

The following is provided for information purposes, and not to be considered legal advice.

On September 30, 2004, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 1825 into law, which requires California employers with 50 or more employees to provide at least 2 hours of interactive training for all supervisors on sexual harassment prevention before January 1, 2006, and every two years thereafter.

When a new-hire supervisor represents that he/she received AB 1825 training at a previous place of employment the same year that training is due for an employer, there is no provision in AB 1825 carving out an exception to the requirement for companies to provide at least two hours of sexual harassment training to such new-hire supervisor.

In addition to the interactive requirement, the law requires that the supervisor training include:  (1) guidance on federal and state laws that prohibit sexual harassment; (2) information on correcting incidents of sexual harassment; (3) remedies available to victims of sexual harassment; (4) examples focused on prevention of sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. 

The trainers need not be attorneys, but they must have knowledge and expertise in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.

There are no financial penalties for failure to comply with the law's requirements, but noncompliance may affect a company’s insurance coverage or rates.   Further, should there be a sexual harassment case, noncompliance may strengthen a sexual harassment claim, against the employer or a person accused of sexual harassment who does not attend a training session.