Employment Law Update

June 8, 2005

Are you in Compliance?

(Government Code §12950.1) requires that employers, with 50 or more employees, train and educate all "supervisors"about sexual harassment.

In order to be in compliance, this mandatory training must be completed by January 1, 2006. We have developed a series of seminars to enable you to comply with your legal obligation to train your supervisors about sexual harassment.  Register today at www.kringandchung.com

MANDATORY SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Training requirements:
By January 1, 2006, an employer having 50 or more employees, must provide two hours of interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees who are employed as of July 1, 2005, and to all new supervisory employees within six months of their assumption of a supervisory position.  After January 1, 2006, employers must "provide sexual harassment training and education to each supervisory employee once every two years."  This statute sets forth specific quality standards for the required training.  The training must include practical guidance regarding the federal and state statutory provisions concerning the prohibition, prevention, and correction of sexual harassment, as well as, practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. Quality requirements: It is important to note, in order to comply with this new statute, the training can only be presented by "trainers or educators with knowledge and expertise in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation."  To ensure that you comply with this quality requirement, Kring & Chung, LLP has developed a training seminar that complies with the requirements in AB 1825.  At Kring & Chung, LLP, we have a team of expert attorneys who deal with the most complex and challenging employment issues.

Extra training:

AB 1825 does "not discourage or relieve any employer from providing for ... education regarding workplace harassment or other forms of unlawful discrimination in order to meet its obligations to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent and correct harassment and discrimination."  The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) makes it an unlawful practice for an employer to fail to take "all reasonable steps"necessary to prevent harassment from occurring in the workplace.

The statute's invitation to go beyond the minimum threshold, provided by this statute, should be accepted by employers.  Employers should provide extra training, regarding all the protected categories under both federal and state anti-discrimination laws.  Although the sexual harassment training will ensure that an employer is in compliance with AB 1825, it will be of littler or no value in defense of a race, national origin, age, or disability harassment case.

Seminar registration:

In order to ensure that you are in compliance with this statutory requirement, please contact Lilia Aguirre at (949) 261-7700 to register for your  "Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training and Education"seminar.  In addition, we strongly recommend that you accept the Legislature's invitation and register to attend  "Discrimination Prevention Seminar: A United Workplace."

For more information or to sign up today please visit : www.kringandchung.com