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Does the employer have to pay for the sexual harassment and abusive
conduct prevention training required by Government Code section 12950.1?
Does the employer have to provide paid time for such training?
Yes. California law specifies: “An employer… shall provide” sexual harassment and abusive
conduct prevention training. Government Code section 12950.1(a)-(b). It is the employer’s
– not the employee’s – responsibility to provide the required training, including any costs
that may be incurred. This language also makes clear that employees may not be required
to take such training during their personal time; the training must be “provided” by the
employer as part of an individual’s employment.
What if the employees are seasonal, temporary, or otherwise work for less
than six months?
For employees hired for less than six months, employers are required to provide training
within 30 calendar days after the hire date or within 100 hours worked, whichever occurs
first.
• Employers are not required to train employees who are employed for fewer than 30
calendar days and work for fewer than 100 hours.
• If an employee is hired to work for less than six months but has not worked in the 30
calendar days after being hired, then the “hire date” is the first day of work.
• In the case of a temporary employee employed by a temporary services employer, as
defined in Section 201.3 of the Labor Code, to perform services for clients, the training
shall be provided by the temporary services employer, not the client.
Can I provide a text-only training for my employees to read?
No. Government Code section 12950.1 requires that the training be “eective interactive
training,” as defined above.
Must the training be online, done individually, or completed all at once?
No. You may provide training live in a classroom, online, or in any other eective interactive
format. Training may be completed by employees individually or as part of a group
presentation (unless it is an e-learning training) and may be completed in segments as long
as the applicable hourly total requirement is met within the two-year reporting period.
Do employers need to train independent contractors, volunteers, and
unpaid interns?
No, but employers might consider doing so to be a best practice. However, in determining
whether an employer meets the threshold of having 5 employees and is subject to the
harassment prevention training requirement, independent contractors, volunteers, and
unpaid interns are counted. For example, if an employer has 2 full time employees and 6
unpaid interns, the employer would meet the training threshold requirement and would
need to ensure the two full time employees receive training.
Sexual Harassment Prevention Training: Information For Employers