On August 30, 2019, Governor Newsom signed SB 778 which extends the current harassment training deadline for employers from January 1, 2020 to January 1, 2021. This basically gives employers an extra year to train supervisors and employees in order to meet SB 1343’s requirements. Don’t panic! If you already did your training this year, your organization gets credit for it with the extended deadline, and will only need to re-train two years from now (i.e., by the end of 2021) as previously planned.  Similarly, if your already-established, two-year training schedule means you are required to provide training by the end of this year, the amended rules do not give you an extension of time, but allow this year’s training to count toward the new requirement and you will just remain on your set two-year training schedule.

Essentially, this bill does not change the timeline for those who have already completed their training this year, and gives extra time to those who completed training last year and have not yet done the next round of required training. Employers should note they must also still provide harassment training to employees within 6 months of hire, and to supervisors within 6 months of attaining the position.

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