Harassment Prevention

Maybe. It is each current employer’s obligation to comply with the regulations. The burden of establishing that prior training was legally compliant remains with each current employer. Employers should obtain a copy of the current certificate from the employee of prior training for recordkeeping. The employee should also be provided – and be required to read and acknowledge receipt of – the practices anti-harassment policy within six months of assuming a position with the practice. If the employer cannot establish that the prior training was compliant, or employee cannot produce a current certificate, the employee will need to be trained. Once proof of training is established, the employee should be placed on a training schedule two years from the date of last training.

Yes. Employers must pay employees for the time-spent training. If the training occurs at another location, after work hours, employees should track their hours and employers should comply with overtime regulations, should overtime occur. In addition, employers must bear the cost of the training itself.

As a best practice, a practice owner/employer with five or more employees, who have positioned themselves as an employee of their corporation should attend the two-hour supervisory training.

Even though independent contractors are included in the number of employees that would subject an employer to new training requirements, an employer is not required to provide training to independent contractors as the law specifically refers to “supervisory employees” and “nonsupervisory employees”. This does assume that your independent contractors are properly classified.