Preventing Harassment & Discrimination for Supervisors: California Course Overview
California requires all employers with 5 or more employees to provide two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to supervisors within six months of hire or promotion, and every two years thereafter. This mandatory training requirement stems from Assembly Bill 1825, Assembly Bill 2053 (prevention of abusive conduct), Senate Bill 396 (harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation), and Senate Bill 1343 (expanding training requirements). Sexual harassment and abusive conduct incidents create negative work environments that ruin working relationships, lower productivity, result in costly administrative actions, and lead to expensive litigation. Supervisors bear heightened responsibility because employers are strictly liable for unlawful harassment by supervisory employees, and supervisory authority is determined by job function rather than title.
This comprehensive 2-hour course trains California supervisors and managers to recognize, prevent, and correct sexual harassment and abusive conduct, respond appropriately to complaints, conduct effective investigations, identify and prevent retaliation, and promote discrimination-free workplaces. The training conforms with all California harassment prevention training requirements and provides supervisors with the knowledge and skills to fulfill their legal obligations while creating respectful, inclusive work environments
Preventing Harassment & Discrimination for Supervisors: California Course Content
Lesson 1: Introduction and Objectives
California’s harassment prevention training mandate, scope of supervisory responsibilities, difference between supervisors and non-supervisory employees, course objectives, importance of harassment-free workplaces, organizational commitment to compliance
Lesson 2: Consequences of Harassment
Impact on victims, impact on organization, legal consequences, financial costs of harassment claims and litigation
Lesson 3: Laws and Liability
Federal law (Title VII of Civil Rights Act, EEOC enforcement), California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), California Civil Rights Department (CRD formerly DFEH), employer liability for supervisor harassment, individual supervisor liability under FEHA, statute of limitations, workers’ compensation exclusivity and exceptions
Lesson 4: Discrimination
Definition of unlawful discrimination, protected characteristics under FEHA, disparate treatment vs. disparate impact, discrimination in employment decisions, reasonable accommodation obligations
Lesson 5: Harassment
Definition of harassment under California law, unwelcome conduct based on protected characteristics, severe or pervasive standard, reasonable person standard, single incident vs. pattern of conduct, hostile work environment elements, harasser can be supervisor, coworker, customer, vendor, contractor
Lesson 6: Sexual Harassment
Two forms of sexual harassment, examples of sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, pregnancy discrimination and harassment
Lesson 7: Other Forms of Harassment
Harassment based on race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, abusive conduct, bullying vs. harassment, AB 2053 abusive conduct prevention requirements
Lesson 8: Reporting Harassment
Supervisor’s mandatory duty to report, organizational reporting channels, prompt reporting requirements, how to receive harassment complaints, interim measures to protect complainant during investigation, continuing duty to monitor and follow up
Lesson 9: Investigating Complaints
Investigation triggers and timing requirements, selecting qualified investigator, investigation planning, evidence gathering, maintaining investigative file, making credibility determinations, reaching findings, documenting investigation thoroughly, timely completion of investigation
Lesson 10: Interviewing
Interview preparation, interview location and setting, interview techniques, interviewing complainant, interviewing accused, interviewing witnesses, concluding interviews professionally
Lesson 11: Prevention and Correction
Creating harassment-free culture through supervisor modeling, setting clear expectations for respectful conduct, addressing problematic behavior promptly before it escalates, effective use of progressive discipline, training and communication about policies, fostering inclusion and respect for differences, corrective actions when harassment is substantiated, monitoring for retaliation, following up with complainant and workplace
