Employee Training: The Required and the Practical

Harassment Prevention Training

Most California employees who work for employers with five or more employees must complete harassment prevention training.

Nonsupervisory employees must complete at least one hour of the training, while supervisors must complete at least two hours. Supervisors generally include anyone who has the authority to:

• Hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward and discipline other employees;
• Direct other employees’ work or address their grievances; and
• Effectively recommend any of the actions listed above.

In the cases of both supervisors and nonsupervisors, you must provide the training within six months after an employee begins work or receives a promotion and then every two years thereafter. You must train temporary and seasonal employees hired for less than six months within 30 calendar days, or before employees work 100 hours, whichever comes first.

Your harassment prevention training must include the following subject matter:

• A definition of unlawful harassment under California and federal law, other forms of harassment and how harassment can cover more than one basis.
• California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) statutory provisions and case law concerning the prohibition against and the prevention of unlawful harassment, discrimination and retaliation in employment.
• The types of conduct that constitute harassment.
• The remedies available to harassed victims in civil actions, as well as potential employer and individual exposure and/or liability.
• Supervisors’ obligation to report harassment, discrimination and retaliation when they become aware of it.
• Practical examples that illustrate harassment, discrimination and retaliation, such as scenarios from cases, news and media accounts, hypotheticals based on workplace situations and other sources. Examples can be demonstrated through training modalities such as role playing, case studies and group discussions.
• The limited confidentiality of the complaint process.
• Strategies to prevent harassment in the workplace.
• Resources for victims of unlawful harassment, such as to whom they should report any alleged sexual harassment.
• The steps necessary to take appropriate remedial measures to correct harassing behavior, which includes the employer’s obligation to conduct an effective workplace investigation of a harassment complaint.
• What the supervisor needs to do if personally accused of harassment.
• The essential elements of an anti-harassment policy and how to utilize it if a harassment complaint is filed. Provide each supervisor with a copy of the policy and require them to read and acknowledge its receipt.
• A review of the definition of “abusive conduct.”
• Training on harassment based on gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation, including practical examples discussing these types of harassment

Training must be provided by a “qualified trainer.” The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) defines a qualified trainer as:

• An attorney who has been admitted for two or more years to the bar of any U.S. state and whose practice includes employment law under the FEHA and/or Title VII.
• A human resource professional or harassment prevention consultant who has a minimum of two years of practical experience in designing or conducting discrimination, retaliation and harassment prevention training; responding to harassment complaints or other discrimination complaints; conducting investigations of harassment complaints; or advising employers or employees regarding discrimination, retaliation and harassment prevention.
• A professor or instructor at a law school, college or university who has a post-graduate degree or California teaching credential and 20 instruction hours or two or more years of experience teaching employment law under the FEHA and/or Title VII.

Workplace Violence Prevention Training

Health care employers have been required to provide violence prevention training for some time, but as of July 1, 2024, almost all California employers are subject to a workplace violence prevention standard. Employers must maintain a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, train employees and log all violent incidents at worksites.

You can implement the workplace violence prevention plan into your existing Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) or maintain a standalone plan. The plan must cover 13 different topics and be specific to hazards and corrective measures for all work areas.

You must, at a minimum, review your plan annually, when a problem arises or when a workplace violence incident occurs.

Along with maintaining the plan, employers must conduct workplace violence prevention training with their employees, which must cover the following topics:

• The employer's plan, how to obtain a copy of the employer's plan at no cost, and how to participate in the development and implementation of the employer's plan.
• The plan's definitions and requirements.
• How to report workplace violence incidents or concerns to the employer or law enforcement without fear of reprisal.
• Workplace violence hazards specific to the employees' jobs, corrective measures the employer has implemented, how to seek assistance to prevent or respond to violence, and strategies to avoid physical harm.
• The violent incident log and how to obtain copies of the log; records related to the identification, evaluation and correction of workplace hazards; and training records.
• An opportunity for interactive questions and answers with a person knowledgeable about the employer's plan

Heat Illness Prevention Training

Since 2006, outdoor employers have been subject to heat illness prevention standards. Just last year, however, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) adopted a heat illness standard for indoor employers where heat is a factor. Both the indoor and outdoor heat illness standards require you to provide supervisors and employees with heat illness prevention training, including the following:

• Heat illness risk factors and how risk increases with exertion, certain clothing and personal protective equipment (PPE);
• The employer’s procedures for mitigating heat illness;  
• The importance of providing and consuming fresh, clean drinking water;
• The importance and concept of acclimatization to high-heat environments;
• The ability to recognize signs and symptoms of heat illness;
• Procedures for contacting emergency services if heat illness occurs, and the importance of providing detailed information to first responders.

Additionally, supervisors need to be trained in:

• How to monitor weather reports and respond to hot weather forecasts.
• The information employees are required to receive as listed above.
• The procedures supervisors must follow when implementing the standard’s applicable provisions.
• The procedures supervisors must follow when an employee exhibits signs or reports symptoms consistent with possible heat illness, including emergency response procedures.

Practical Training

Practical training, while not necessarily required by law, can help to improve employee skills, morale and overall job satisfaction. And perhaps most importantly, effective training can help your company minimize the risk of legal claims.

Every supervisor should be trained to prevent discrimination and retaliation. Making remarks about an older employee being “slow” or “fuzzy” isn’t just rude, a court may well find it illegal, age-based discrimination. Supervisors and managers need to know what questions can and cannot be asked during job interviews. Asking whether an applicant is married or where they are from may seem like an innocent conversation to the interviewer, but a jury may find otherwise.

With the recent PAGA reform that makes it possible for employers who “take all reasonable steps” to comply with various wage and hour requirements to limit their liability, it’s also critical that supervisors are trained to have a working knowledge of wage and hour laws. Additionally, supervisors should have a basic understanding of what leaves of absence are available, how they work and, most importantly, when to get Human Resources involved.

It's also a best practice for any employee with access to company-owned computers, tablets or smartphones to receive cybersecurity training. This training involves:

• How to identify malicious emails and websites;
• Establishing password security:
• Reporting suspicious online activity; and
• Application installation protocols.

Some employers invest considerable resources in upgrading their virtual infrastructure — moving to cloud-based systems like Microsoft OneDrive, for example — without sufficiently training their employees on how to use the new tools. An effective and comprehensive employee training program is an essential part of any company-wide technology rollout. Even the most cutting-edge technology infrastructure won’t do any good if employees don’t know how to use it.

Industry-Specific Training Requirements

Many industries have specific training requirements for their trade, including but not limited to:

• HIPAA compliance for health care workers and anyone with access to private health information.
• Bloodborne pathogen training for people at risk of exposure to blood or other infectious materials, such as tattoo artists, permanent cosmetic professionals and body piercers.
• Anti-money laundering training for accountants and certain lawyers, real-estate agents, financial institutions and other organizations that deal with large amounts of money.
• Data protection and privacy training for any person responsible for compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act.

Unique Resources to Keep You On Track

CalChamber has a number of useful resources to help with your workforce training needs. 

• Harassment Prevention Training

CalChamber is a qualified trainer, offering affordable and engaging options for harassment prevention training — whether it be our online training course, complete with realistic workplace scenarios, movie-quality videos and interactive quizzes, or our in-person (at your workplace) or virtual training, provided by our employment law experts. 

• Workplace Violence Prevention

Our Workplace Violence Prevention Toolkit that contains a model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan and a model Workplace Violence Prevention Training slide deck with instructions and suggested provisions.

• Supervisor Essentials: Workplace Compliance

The Supervisor Essentials webinar is meant to guide supervisors through the critical compliance information they need to manage employees in California’s complex regulatory environment. The April 3 virtual seminar will run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will cover hiring, onboarding, wage and hour issues, workplace safety and more.

• Cybersecurity Training

Reducing exposure to cyberthreats is an effort that starts with a holistic training approach. CalChamber’s cybersecurity training program gives your employees the tools they need to recognize digital dangers while also ensuring that your organization maintains best practices.

Whichever resources you rely upon to help meet your various training obligations, it’s critical to periodically review and adjust your employee training programs to account for new standards and requirements. Remember, a well-maintained training program can not only ensure you’re staying compliant with California employment laws and regulations, but helps you foster a productive, healthy workplace, that can translate into the overall success of your business.