SB 1343 Information – California’s anti-harassment training law

SB 1343 Information

Effective January 1, 2019, SB 1343 expanded the scope of the state’s previous anti-harassment training requirements.

Before 2019, only employers with 50 or more employees/contractors were required to provide anti-harassment training, under AB 1825. And that was only to their California supervisors. Now, companies with 5 or more employees must provide sexual harassment training. And those businesses must provide training for all employees, not just supervisors. The anti-harassment training must take place by the end of 2020 (the 2019 deadline was extended by SB 778), then every two years after. The training for supervisors must be a minimum of two hours; for non-supervisors, at least one hour.

Before SB 1343 regulations, some of the SB 1343 information and requirements were a bit open. However, any confusion has been resolved by new regulations, developed in 2020 and effective January 1, 2021. These new regulations are fairly similar to the regulations that were developed in connection with AB 1825.

In meeting SB 1343 training requirements, the most effective harassment prevention training – the gold standard – is still live group training with a skilled harassment prevention trainer.  (Here’s why.) However, live group training, whether in person or online via webinar, is not practical for every company. In that case, asynchronous online trainings may do the trick. Be aware that just like with earlier regulations, there are strict limits to who is qualified to provide sexual harassment prevention training.

Alisa A. Shorago, J.D.

Shorago Training Services has been providing harassment prevention training to California supervisors and non-supervisors since 2008, as well as to employees in other states.  Shorago Training Services offers in-person training (when safe); SB 1343 webinars that are live and instructor-led; and on-demand SB 1343 eLearning courses for both non-supervisors and supervisors. For live training, there are a number of options for training supervisors and non-supervisors, together or separately. Please contact us for more information or a quote.

SB 1343 Resources

The text of California’s SB 1343

Regulations for SB 1343, effective January 1, 2021

Employer Training FAQ by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing

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