California Employment Law Attorney Assisting Clients with Sexual Harassment Claims in the Workplace

Employer Duties to Prevent Sexual Harassment Complaints

The EEOC underscores that “prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace.” As such, the federal agency encourages employers to “take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring.” California law has more specific requirements for employers when it comes to preventing and correcting sexual harassment in the workplace. Under California law, employers must do the following:

• Distribute copies of a writing that complies with Government Code 12950, which outlines employer responsibilities with regard to sexual harassment prevention and correction;
• Post a copy of the DFEH employment poster in the workplace, “California Law Prohibits Workplace Discrimination and Harassment”;
• Develop a specific workplace prevention policy concerning harassment, discrimination, and retaliation;
• Distribute the workplace policy by providing employees with the policy and requiring employee acknowledgement (in writing or otherwise);
• Translate the policy if at least 10 percent of the workforce speaks a language other than English as their primary language; and
• Provide two hours or more of sexual harassment training every two years if the employer has 50 or more employees (part-time or full-time).