Sexual harassment prevention training for all employees deadline extended to Jan. 1, 2021
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill extending the deadline for sexual harassment prevention training. Under SB 778, employers with five or more employees now have until no later than Jan. 1, 2021 to complete the mandatory one-or two-hour trainings for employees to be compliant. Employees are required to complete the training within six months of hire or promotion and every two years after.
With the extension, employers who trained their employees in 2018 can provide subsequent training in 2020 while still complying with the deadline. Additionally, employers who train their employees in 2019 are not required to provide more training until 2021 and every two years thereafter.
Update! Senate Bill 530 delays until Jan. 1, 2021, the new required sexual harassment prevention training for seasonal, temporary or other employees hired to work for less than six months.
In September, Gov. Newsom signed legislation that extended the training completion deadline for most employees to Jan. 1, 2021, but the extension did not apply to temporary, seasonal or other workers hired to work for less than six months. With the passage of SB 530, employers now have until Jan. 1, 2021, to provide the required sexual harassment prevention training to all off their workers, whether permanent or temporary.
Because implementing new training requires time to research and hire a qualified trainer as well as time to complete the training, employers should plan to train all workers before the end of 2020 to be compliant with the new law by the January 2021 deadline.