California's Training Law
hhaynal
231 Posts
We are a non-California employer but do have two sales agents located in California. Our own corporate mandate requires all employees to complete certain legal compliance training modules every two years. One of the modules relates specifically to preventing harassment in the workplace while the other contains this content in an "overview". The overview is the only required module and the other 30+ modules are at the discretion of the department manager based upon the duties of his/her reports.
My understanding of the California law is that the training (1) is required EVERY year, (2) the course must be at least 2 hours, (3) the law applies to us even though we are NOT a California employer since we have 50+ employees, and (4) the California training law applies to a non-California employee if he/she supervises the California employee.
My main concern is that the 2 modules we have may not meet the 2-hour content requirement. The second concern is making sure the affected folks stay compliant on a yearly schedule, and then to whom do we report the compliance?
If some of our California forumites can offer some insight as they addressed this matter, I'd appreciate hearing from you.
My understanding of the California law is that the training (1) is required EVERY year, (2) the course must be at least 2 hours, (3) the law applies to us even though we are NOT a California employer since we have 50+ employees, and (4) the California training law applies to a non-California employee if he/she supervises the California employee.
My main concern is that the 2 modules we have may not meet the 2-hour content requirement. The second concern is making sure the affected folks stay compliant on a yearly schedule, and then to whom do we report the compliance?
If some of our California forumites can offer some insight as they addressed this matter, I'd appreciate hearing from you.
Comments
"My understanding of the California law is that the training (1) is required EVERY year"
No. You need to do it by Jan. 1, 2006 unless you've done it since January 1, 2003. Then every TWO years after that. For new CA supervisors, you need to train them within six months.
"(2) the course must be at least 2 hours"
Yes, it must be two hours devoted to sexual harassment, including CA law.
"(3) the law applies to us even though we are NOT a California employer since we have 50+ employees"
Yes.
"(4) the California training law applies to a non-California employee if he/she supervises the California employee."
No, it's just supers in CA. I assume that neither of your CA ees supervises the other.
There's more information on [link:www.hrhero.com/employersforum/DCForumID14/6499.html|another thread] including a shameless plug for the video, along with a national version.
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com
[link:www.HRhero.com/CalHarass|[img src="/harass/img/stop_sign-125.jpg" border="1"]]
[url]www.HRhero.com/CalHarass[/url]
At this time, we're taking the position that these two employees are sales reps, not supervisors since they do not supervise any direct reports. (My issue with this approach is that the individuals are in a grade level that places them in supervisory status even without direct reports.)
I agree with you on this. However, this attached article makes it sound as if you only need to have 50 employees in CA for this to be required. I am up in air overthis since I have heard it both ways.
[url]http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-06/01-01-06/d06bu372.htm[/url]
E Wart
This aspect of the California training law is very confusing, and we don't have a definitive answer from the California government. The closest we have are regulations proposed by CA's Fair Housing and Employment Commission that haven't been finalized. And you won't like them.
According to the proposed regs, the law applies to you if you have 50 ees anywhere. It wouldn't matter how many you have in CA. If the regs become final, you'd have to give two hours of training to your one supervisor in CA.
I've talked about this many times with Mark Schickman, the California attorney who's in our video, "Stop Sexual Harassment: Interactive Training for California Supervisors" (and a different version for other states). Long before the regs were proposed, he said the statute would apply to companies like yours.
It gets worse. The proposed regs also say you have to train all employees who supervise a CA ee, regardless of where the supervisor works. If you have a manager in Maine who supervises an ee in CA, you'd have to train the Maine manager, according to the proposed regs. So you might have to train the Maine manager who oversees your CA supervisor. But these are only proposed regs, and I have no idea whether this far-reaching provision will become final.
Here are the proposed regs:
[url]http://www.fehc.ca.gov/pub/rulemaking.asp[/url]
And here's our solution to your training problem, a video created by yours truly that's designed to comply with the CA training requirements:
[link:www.HRhero.com/CalHarass|[img src="/harass/img/stop_sign-125.jpg" border="1"]]
[url]www.HRhero.com/CalHarass[/url]
Good luck.
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com