Recently we’ve heard a few business owners or managers tell us they have been “certified” to conduct their own harassment training to comply with California’s mandatory harassment training requirements. It’s important for owners to understand who is allowed to conduct this training in California.
The regulations specify three categories of qualified trainers:
- Attorneys admitted to the bar of any state for two or more years whose practice includes employment law under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and/or Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964; or
- Human Resource Professionals or Harassment Prevention Consultants with a minimum of two years with practical experience in one or more of the following:
- a. Designing or conducting discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment prevention training; or
- b. Responding to sexual harassment complaints or other discrimination complaints; or
- c. Conducting investigations of sexual harassment complaints; or
- d. Advising employers or employees regarding discrimination, retaliation and sexual harassment prevention.
- Professors or instructors in law schools, colleges, or universities who have a post-graduate degree or California teaching credential and either 20 instruction hours or two or more years experience teaching about employment law under FEHA or Title VII at a law school, college, or university.
In our opinion, a business owner or employee who does not have these qualifications cannot be “certified” to handle your training. In addition, we don’t believe it is sufficient to claim qualification under #2 unless that person regularly engages in those activities since the purpose is to ensure the trainer has sufficient knowledge in this area. Very few businesses “regularly” engage in these areas, unless they have a larger employee base.
We recommend you use truly qualified professionals to conduct your training, so you are not subject to challenges about whether you met the state requirements. YPP provides training that meets these requirements.