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California law requires employers to provide one hour of sexual harassment prevention training to staff by Jan. 1, 2021. In May, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing distributed its online training program as an option for employers to use. Other employers developed their own training.
Despite hospitals’ good faith efforts to comply with the training deadline, many have reported challenges in getting all staff trained by the end of the year due to the need to focus on COVID-19 response.
CHA staff consulted with the department to understand how it would respond to situations where a hospital has made a good faith effort on training but has not met the Jan. 1 deadline. The department does not have the authority to change the deadline. If the department receives a complaint alleging an employer has not complied with the training requirement and determines the complaint has merit, it will attempt to resolve the complaint informally through a settlement process.
A settlement, for example, could include an agreement on a training schedule. If the matter cannot be resolved informally, the department has a more formal resolution process. If the complaint is not resolved, the department can go to court to get an order requiring the employer to comply.