By January 1, 2021, all California employers with five or more employees are required to have provided interactive harassment prevention training to all employees in California, both supervisory and non-supervisory. 

Recently, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) released supervisory on-line harassment prevention training, which can be found here. Supervisory employees must receive at least two hours interactive harassment prevention training, which must be provided every two years, and within six months of hire or promotion to supervisory status.

California employers should note, however, that most employment law practitioners believe that there is no substitute for in-person training for supervisors, whose duty it is to know and enforce complex anti-harassment and discrimination rules.  Indeed, the training for supervisors is simply too important to leave to chance, and in-person training offers a greater opportunity for discussion and problem-solving, which translates to better understanding. 

For non-supervisors, the DFEH previously released on-line harassment prevention training, which can be found here.  As with harassment prevention training for supervisors, in-person training for non-supervisors is generally recommended, given its greater effectiveness.   However, for employers with a high rate of turnover, the on-line training offered by the DFEH will serve to check the box on a statutory requirement and is perfectly adequate. 

The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Joanne Warriner.

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