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Please note important changes in Sexual Harassment Training requirements for employers in California. AB 1825, became effective on September 30, 2004, and requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to supervisory employees every two years. The training must include strategies for preventing sexual harassment in the workplace and must discuss remedies for victims of unlawful harassment. Under the California law, a covered "employer" employs 50 or more persons, including temporary service employees and independent contractors. The law does not specify that the 50 employees must be working within the State or at a single location. The law is applicable to employers with even just a few employees in California if the employer's workforce totals 50 or more employees. To meet the new California requirements, sexual harassment prevention training must be in the form of "information and practical guidance" regarding federal and state laws concerning the prohibition of, and the prevention and correction of, sexual harassment. The California law specifically requires "trainers or educators with knowledge and expertise in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation" to conduct "two hours of classroom or other effective interactive training and education." Because of the term "interactive," an audio or video presentation alone without questions and answers, role playing, and other interactive methods may be insufficient. The U.S. Supreme Court, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the State of California has acknowledged that workplace training is fundamental to maintaining what anti-discrimination laws require: that employers must provide a workplace where employees can perform their jobs without harassment or other unlawful interference and, should harassment occur, employers have the legal duty to prevent the misconduct and remedy its consequences. For your convenience, we can arrange for a training professional to come to you. Our Preventing Sexual Harassment training program is specifically designed to help you meet the standards for required classroom compliance training. Each program includes documentation to prove that your supervisors have completed the training. For more information and to speak with a representative about implementing a training program in your organization, call 760-246-4836 or e-mail pat@pbbdenterprises.com.
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