Bullying Be Gone – New California Law Makes Anti-Bullying Training For Employers' Supervisors A Must

Since 2004, California employers with 50 or more employees have been required to provide their supervisors with sexual harassment training. Effective January 1, 2015, these employers will have an additional responsibility. Governor Jerry Brown signed A.B. 2053 into law on September 9, 2014, mandating that covered employers add anti-bullying training into their current sexual harassment training curriculum.1 While the new law codifies much of what employers may already be doing, it sets forth specific requirements they must follow starting January 1, 2015.

Current Training Requirements: What, Who, How Much and When

Current California law requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide two hours of sexual harassment training and education to all supervisory employees within the first six months of the employee's assumption of a supervisory role.2 Further, covered employers must provide ongoing sexual harassment prevention training every two years.3

Specifically, the training must include information and practical guidance regarding the federal and state statutory provisions concerning the prohibition, prevention, correction and remedying of sexual harassment in employment.4 It must also include practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention of harassment, discrimination and retaliation.5 Further, it must be presented by trainers or educators with knowledge and expertise in the subject matter.6

New Requirements for Training Curriculum

As of January 1, 2015, covered employers will be required to include "prevention of abusive conduct as a component of the [sexual harassment] training and education . . . ." The new law defines "abusive conduct" as:7

. . . conduct of an employer or employee in the workplace, with malice, that a reasonable person would find hostile, offensive, and unrelated to an employer's legitimate business interests. [It] may include repeated infliction of verbal abuse, such as the use of derogatory remarks, insults, and epithets, verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating, or humiliating, or the gratuitous sabotage or undermining of a person's work performance.

The new law adds that a "single act shall not constitute abusive conduct, unless especially severe or egregious."

The broad language of this new law contains some ambiguity and leaves room for interpretation. For example, it does not specify the content of the training or training materials...