California harassment training requirements: who, hours, timing and records

The training duty sits in Government Code section 12950.1. Reading the text through Justia’s reproduction, it applies to employers with five or more employees, and it requires training for supervisory and nonsupervisory employees in California. The statute also treats an employer as including a person who regularly receives the services of five or more people providing services under a contract, so contractors count toward the threshold.

The regulation at 2 CCR section 11024 fills in the counting rules. For the five-employee threshold, it says employees include unpaid interns, unpaid volunteers and people providing services under a contract. The five do not have to work at the same location. It also covers government entities regardless of the number of employees.

Who counts as a supervisor is decided by Government Code section 12926, not by job title, according to the same regulation. Attending the supervisor training does not make someone a supervisor. So I check the statutory definition against what the person can actually do, and I do not rely on the title alone when deciding which course they take.

Two special cases come straight from the statute. Seasonal, temporary or other employees hired for less than six months must be trained within 30 calendar days after the hire date or within 100 hours worked, whichever comes first. For temporary workers placed by a temporary services employer, the temporary services employer, not the client, provides the training.

This article offers general information, not legal advice. Laws change and facts vary, so confirm how they apply to your situation.

The two-hour and one-hour minimums are in section 12950.1, and the six-month and two-year timing is repeated in 2 CCR 11024(b). The same regulation says the hours can be completed in segments, and each segment must be at least 30 minutes for classroom and webinar formats. The statute calls these figures a minimum, so an employer may train longer.

The Civil Rights Department states the cycle plainly in its December 18, 2023 reminder: employers with five or more employees must provide at least one hour of training to nonsupervisory employees and two hours to supervisory employees every two years. Its December 17, 2025 release repeats the reminder and points to the department’s free online training.

The clock runs per employee, not per company. An employer that trains everyone on one day in January has one date to track. An employer that trains new hires as they arrive has a different date for each person. I recommend putting each person’s next due date in a tracker the day they finish, because the common failure is not skipping training. It is losing track of whose two years is up.

Section 12950.1 requires information about federal and state law on sexual harassment, its prevention and correction, and the available remedies, with practical examples for supervisors on preventing harassment, discrimination and retaliation. It adds two required components: prevention of abusive conduct, and harassment based on gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.

The statute defines abusive conduct as conduct of an employer or employee in the workplace, with malice, that a reasonable person would find hostile and offensive and that is unrelated to an employer’s legitimate business interests. Repeated verbal abuse can qualify. A single act generally does not unless it is especially severe and egregious.

The regulation adds a content list. Training must include, among other items:

• The definition of unlawful harassment under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and Title VII
• Types of conduct that constitute harassment
• Supervisors’ obligation to report harassment, discrimination and retaliation
• The limited confidentiality of the complaint process
• Remedial measures and the steps of an effective workplace investigation
• Guidance on what to do if a supervisor is personally accused
• The essential elements of an anti-harassment policy, a copy of which the employer must give each employee and have them acknowledge
• A review of abusive conduct, its negative effects and why one act generally does not qualify

A generic video can cover most of that list. It cannot cover the policy your people actually have, the reporting path they actually use or the scenarios that happen in your workplace. That gap is where I see live sessions earn their time.

The statute requires classroom or other effective interactive training and education. The regulation turns that into formats. In 2 CCR 11024(a)(2), classroom training is in-person, trainer-led instruction delivered away from the employee’s daily duties. A webinar is an internet-based seminar whose content is created and taught by a trainer. E-learning is individualized, interactive, computer-based training.

Audio, video or computer tools can supplement training, but they cannot by themselves fulfill the requirements. Interactivity is spelled out: questions that assess learning, skill-building activities and numerous hypothetical scenarios with discussion questions.

A checklist for a live or webinar session

• A qualified trainer teaches it. The regulation names attorneys admitted for two or more years with an employment practice that includes FEHA or Title VII, HR professionals, consultants or peer trainers with a minimum of two years of practical experience, and instructors with 20 instruction hours or two or more years teaching employment law
• A less experienced trainer may team teach only if a qualified trainer supervises and is available throughout
• For a webinar, you document that remote employees attended the entire session and actively participated
• The session includes assessment questions, skill-building activities and hypothetical scenarios with discussion
• Each segment runs at least 30 minutes
• For e-learning, the trainer answers questions within a reasonable time, and no later than two business days
• Employees receive the anti-harassment policy and acknowledge it

If you record a webinar to meet the retention rule, read recording consent in training first, because California’s recording law can apply to the session you are keeping a copy of.

Under 2 CCR 11024(b)(2), employers keep training documentation for a minimum of two years. The regulation lists employee names, training dates, sign-in sheets, certificates, the type of training, the materials and the provider’s name. For a webinar, the employer also keeps a copy of the webinar, all written materials, all written questions and the trainer’s written responses for two years. For e-learning, the trainer keeps written questions and responses for two years after the response.

Here is the training log I would start with. Copy it into a spreadsheet and add one row per employee per training.

That is a design suggestion, not a form the regulation prescribes. Match its columns to the documentation list above and you will have what an inspector or a plaintiff’s lawyer asks for first.

This is a hypothetical, built to show the arithmetic. A company has 2 employees, 2 contractors who work for it regularly and 1 unpaid intern.

• Counting: 2 employees plus 2 contractors plus 1 unpaid intern equals 5. Under the regulation’s counting rules, the company meets the five-person threshold, so it owes training even though it has only two employees on payroll.
• New supervisor: one of the employees is promoted to supervisor on March 3. Her two hours are due within six months, so by September 3.
• Next cycle: if she completes the two hours on June 10, I would calendar her next training for two years from June 10 and treat that as the due date.
• Record: the company keeps her certificate, the materials, the trainer’s name and the date for at least two years.

The example shows why the threshold surprises small employers. Headcount on payroll is not the test, and a company that thinks it is exempt should recount using the regulation’s definition before deciding.

Searches for AB 1825 training and for California harassment training requirements 2022 reflect older versions of the rule. AB 1825 is the 2004 bill (Statutes 2004, chapter 933) that added section 12950.1 to the Government Code, and the legislature’s own bill page confirms it. The section has been amended since, most recently by AB 3369 in 2020, so the current text is what governs. Per Ogletree Deakins, SB 1343 expanded the training duty to employers with five or more employees and added the one-hour nonsupervisory training, SB 1343 originally set a January 1, 2020 deadline, and SB 778, signed August 30, 2019, moved the deadline to January 1, 2021. The page also says the earlier threshold had been 50 or more employees.

If a vendor sells you AB 1825 training, check the product against the current requirements in this article, including the one hour for nonsupervisory employees, the abusive conduct component and the interactive standard. A course built for the older supervisor-only rule can leave you short.

Some buyers search for harassment defense training. The law does not use that phrase, and I would not buy a course on that framing. Section 12950.1 says a claim that training did not reach someone does not by itself create liability, and it also says an employer’s compliance with the section does not insulate it from liability for sexual harassment. Subdivision (e) adds that the training is a minimum threshold, not a substitute for taking all reasonable steps to prevent and correct harassment.

The duty that matters sits in Government Code section 12940: it is unlawful for an employer to fail to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring. Training is one reasonable step. So are a clear policy, a complaint path people trust and a prompt response. Treat training as prevention and as evidence of effort, not as a defense you can buy.

My recommendation: put the budget into sessions where supervisors practice what to say when an employee comes to them, because that is the moment that decides whether the employer acts on what it knows. For new supervisors in particular, see first time manager training.

Who must be trained under California harassment training requirements?

Employers with five or more employees, counting contractors, unpaid interns and unpaid volunteers under the regulation, must train supervisory and nonsupervisory employees in California.

How many hours of training are required?

At least two hours for supervisory employees and at least one hour for nonsupervisory employees, every two years. New hires and new supervisors must be trained within six months of hire or of assuming the supervisory role.

Can employees complete the training in segments?

Yes. The regulation says training can be completed in segments, and each segment must be at least 30 minutes for classroom and webinar formats.

What records must an employer keep?

Training documentation for a minimum of two years, including employee names, training dates, sign-in sheets, certificates, the type of training, the materials and the provider’s name. For a webinar, keep a copy of the webinar, materials and written questions and responses.

Does a live webinar count?

It can, if it is taught by a qualified trainer, is interactive in the way the regulation describes, and you document that remote employees attended the entire session and participated.

Is there a free option?

The Civil Rights Department says it offers free online trainings that satisfy the state’s legal requirements. Whether an online course fits your workplace is a separate question.

Does completing training protect an employer from a claim?

No. Section 12950.1 says in subdivision (c) that compliance does not insulate an employer from liability for sexual harassment, and in subdivision (e) that the training is a minimum threshold. Section 12940(k) separately makes failing to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment unlawful.