On May 15, 2014, the California Assembly passed a proposed amendment to California’s statute governing sexual harassment training.

Currently, the statute requires employers with 50 or more employees to ensure workplaces are free of sexual harassment by providing training to their supervisory employees at least once every two years.  Such training must include information regarding the federal and California provisions prohibiting sexual harassment, and demanding its prevention and correction, as well as the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment.  The statute also requires that training include practical examples to demonstrate how to identify, prevent, and correct sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.

The proposed amendment would require an additional component of training regarding the prevention of “abusive conduct” in the workplace, as defined in the amendment.  According to the bill’s author, the amendment is aimed at the prevention of bullying in the workplace.

Having passed the vote in the California Assembly, the bill currently is before the California Senate.  Employers should stay tuned, though, as they may be required to modify their current state-mandated training in the relatively near future.