<body><script type="text/javascript"> function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) { if(window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener('load', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false); } else { window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }); } } </script> <div id="navbar-iframe-container"></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> gapi.load("gapi.iframes:gapi.iframes.style.bubble", function() { if (gapi.iframes && gapi.iframes.getContext) { gapi.iframes.getContext().openChild({ url: 'https://www.blogger.com/navbar.g?targetBlogID\x3d11093232\x26blogName\x3dAB+1825+Sex+Harassment+Trainer\x26publishMode\x3dPUBLISH_MODE_BLOGSPOT\x26navbarType\x3dBLUE\x26layoutType\x3dCLASSIC\x26searchRoot\x3dhttps://ab1825.blogspot.com/search\x26blogLocale\x3den\x26v\x3d2\x26homepageUrl\x3dhttp://ab1825.blogspot.com/\x26vt\x3d-9217454812519333567', where: document.getElementById("navbar-iframe-container"), id: "navbar-iframe" }); } }); </script>

AB 1825 Sex Harassment Trainer

A free resource for California employers about the sexual harassment training law (AB 1825).

Excellent AB 1825 Review

Tuesday, July 31, 2007
LawRoom recently republished its detailed review of California's anti-harassment training requirements as specified by AB 1825 and as modified by the recently-approved regulations issued by the Fair Employment & Housing Commission (FEHC).

See LawRoom FEHC Regulations for AB 1825.

It's an excellent resource to answer questions, such as:
  • Will showing a video combined with a group discussion satisfy the training requirement? (no)
  • If 2007 is your "training year" for tracking purposes, but you trained some supervisors in 2006, can you have another "training year" in 2008? (no)
  • Do you always have to train newly-hired supervisors within six months (not always, but you probably should)
  • What kind of records do I need to make and keep for AB1825 (and for how long)? (get your answers here...)

FEHC Says Regs Approved!

Thursday, July 19, 2007
Despite what they told me yesterday, the Fair Employment & Housing Commission's AB 1825 harassment training regulations were approved.

Today, the FEHC issued this email message: "The Fair Employment and Housing Commission announce that the sexual harassment training and education regulations submitted to the Office of Administrative Law have been approved. We anticipate that, after the mandated publication period, the regulations will become effective on August 17, 2007."

Here's the bottom line for employers: If you're going to do your AB1825 training this year, do it before August 17, 2007. On that date, the official regulations take effect which (1) establish legal standards for all training conducted after that date, and (2) expressly state that all training done in good faith prior to that date is "deemed" to comply with the law.

After August 17 you might have to prove that your training complied with all of the specific requirements of the law and regulations; but training completed before then is legally assumed ("deemed") to have complied with these rules under FEHC regulation section 7288.0(e), which says: "An employer who has made a substantial, good faith effort to comply with section 12950.1 [AB 1825] by completing training of its supervisors prior to the effective date of these regulations shall be deemed to be in compliance with section 12950.1 regarding training as though it had been done under these regulations."

So, if you want to ensure (get "deemed") compliance, train in good faith before the "effective date of these regulations" (i.e., August 17, 2007).

Time's up, but Ann's on vacation...

Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Okay, so it's nearly three years after AB 1825 was enacted, and two years after the Fair Employment & Housing Commission (FEHC) started working on its regulations, and almost three months after the FEHC issued the regulations. Plus, we've waited 30 working days after the FEHC submitted the regulations for final approval by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), and so....

Nothing.

Did the OAL approve the regulations? The FEHC won't say. Why? Because Ann Noel, the FEHC Executive and Legal Affairs Secretary, is on vacation until Monday. Any announcement about the FEHC regulations will have to go through Ann, says the FEHC spokesperson.

The law affects every California employer with over 50 employees and approximately 1.7 million supervisors. But, what's that compared to ensuring that Ann gets her rest before everyone gets to know what the law is?

29 days and counting...

Tuesday, July 17, 2007
On June 5, 2007, the Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC) submitted its AB 1825 regulations' "regulatory package" to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for final approval, which the FEHC says "has 30 working days to review and approve the regulations or disapprove them and require further changes."

By my count, today is "working day" 29.

Will the regulations fiiiiiiiiiiinalllly be approved tomorrow?

We're approaching the third anniversary of Arnold's signing of AB1825 (September 29, 2004), and more than halfway through the second compliance year (i.e., 2005 and 2007). Let's hope the FEHC can get its regulations enacted before too much longer.

New Federal Minimum Wage Poster

Tuesday, July 03, 2007
A new federal minimum wage poster is now available from the US Department of Labor in anticipation of the July 24, 2007 (and subsequent two years') minimum wage increase.

And, for those keeping up with the AB 1825 regulations, on June 5, 2007 the Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC) submitted the "regulatory package" (the regulations it adopted on April 23) to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), which has 30 business days to approve or reject the package, and which (if approved) go to the Secretary of State to take effect 30 days later. Seeing how we're nearing the end of the OAL's 30 days, we might see the regs (if approved) actually become effective sometime in the middle of August 2007 (almost three years after the Governor signed AB 1825 in September 2004).