Cal. LAB § 1429.5 — California Code / Code lab / Division 2 / Part 4.2 / Section 1429.5
Section 1429.5
Status: in_force

(a) The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall establish by January 1, 2019, a biennial in-person sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement to be provided by employers governed by this part for nonsupervisory covered workers and supervisors of nonsupervisory covered workers. The training content and qualifications for trainers for supervisory workers shall be consistent with the training requirements of Section 12950.1 of the Government Code and subsequent amendments to those requirements. The training content for nonsupervisors shall also be consistent with the requirements of Section 12950.1 of the Government Code and subsequent amendments to those requirements. The qualifications for trainers for nonsupervisors are set forth in this section. The training required under this section shall be in lieu of, and not in addition to, the requirements for training under Section 12950.1 of the Government Code, as long as the training pursuant to this section meets or exceeds the requirements for training under Section 12950.1 of the Government Code, apart from the aforementioned distinction regarding trainer qualification for nonsupervisory training.

(b) To assist in developing these standards, the director shall convene a training advisory committee to recommend requirements for a sexual harassment prevention training program. The training advisory committee shall be composed of representatives of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the Civil Rights Department, and shall also include representatives from a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent that represents janitorial workers, employers, labor-management groups in the janitorial industry, sexual assault victims advocacy groups, and other related subject matter experts. The director shall convene the training advisory committee by July 1, 2017. The training advisory committee shall consider the requirements of Section 12950.1 of the Government Code when developing the recommended standard. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall propose the requirements for the sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement by January 1, 2018.

(c) The director shall convene a training advisory committee to assist in compiling a list of qualified organizations that shall provide to employers the qualified peer trainers that employers shall use to provide the required training to nonsupervisors, as described below. The training advisory committee shall be composed of representatives from a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent that represents janitorial workers, representatives of janitorial workers, janitorial employers, and sexual assault victims advocates. By January 1, 2021, the department shall make available on its internet website the list of qualified organizations that employers shall use to locate a qualified peer trainer in a particular county to provide the required nonsupervisory training. The qualified organization shall provide to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement the name, contact information, and service area of the qualified organization for inclusion on the website.

(d) The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall require employers covered by this part subject to the biennial training requirement to provide the training content developed by the Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) under the direction of the director, or as amended in the future by the director.

(e) (1) Employers covered by this part subject to the biennial training requirement shall use a qualified organization from the list maintained by the director to provide the required training to nonsupervisors. Qualified organizations shall provide qualified peer trainers that employers covered by this part shall use to provide the required training to nonsupervisors.

(2) Until January 1, 2026, unless an alternative payment option has been agreed to under a collective bargaining agreement, the employer shall pay the qualified organization as follows:

(A) Eighty dollars ($80) per participant for training sessions having 10 or more participants.

(B) Two hundred dollars ($200) per participant for training sessions having fewer than 10 participants.

(3) On and after January 1, 2026, and each year thereafter, the rates the employer shall pay the qualified organization shall increase by the percentage reflected in the most recent annual average California Price Index Changes - California (All Urban Consumers) report issued by the Department of Industrial Relations.

(4) A covered employer shall document compliance with the training requirement by completing and signing a form, to be developed by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, certifying that the training was conducted and that the qualified organization was paid in full, and the form shall be produced upon request of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. A covered employer shall also document compliance with the training requirement by ensuring that each participant sign in and sign out on a sign-in sheet, using printed writing and signature, at the commencement and completion of training, in addition to any regulatory documentation retention requirements adopted by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

(f) The training advisory committee shall recommend the qualified organizations to the director. A qualified organization shall be a nonprofit corporation as described in subsection (c) of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States (26 U.S.C. 501(c)), that on its own or through its training partners complies with all of the following:

(1) Have and maintain at least 30 qualified peer trainers who are available to provide training to nonsupervisors covered workers as required under this part.

(2) Have access to local and regional sexual violence-related trauma services and resources for local referrals documented through letters of acknowledgment from service providers.

(3) Be committed to ongoing education and development as documented by a minimum of 10 hours of professional development each year for qualified organization staff and peer trainers in areas of research and strategies to prevent and respond to sexual assault and sexual harassment.

(4) Have seven years of demonstrated experience working with employers to provide training to employees both on and off the worksite in the janitorial industry, including seven years demonstrated experience working with immigrant low-wage workers.

(g) To be qualified as a peer trainer under this section, a person shall have the training, knowledge, and experience necessary to train nonsupervisory covered workers and shall, at the minimum, have all of the following qualifications:

(1) At least a cumulative 40 hours of sexual assault advocate training in the following areas:

(A) Survivor-centered and trauma-informed principles and techniques.

(B) The long-term effects of sexual trauma and the intersection of discrimination, oppression, and sexual violence.

(C) The availability of local, state, and national resources for survivors of sexual violence.

(D) Interactive teaching strategies that engage across multiple literacy levels.

(E) Conducting discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment prevention training.

(F) Responding to sexual harassment complaints or other discrimination complaints.

(G) Employer responsibility to conduct investigations of sexual harassment complaints.

(H) Advising covered workers regarding discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment prevention.

(2) Have two years of nonsupervisory work experience in the janitorial or property service industry.

(3) Be culturally competent and fluent in the language or languages that the relevant covered workers understand.

(h) The director shall maintain the list of qualified organizations. The list shall be updated by the director with assistance from the training advisory committee at least once every three years. The director may approve qualified organizations on an ongoing basis, if they meet the qualifications required by subdivision (f). The fee per participant may be adjusted by the Labor Commissioner as needed.

(i) The training advisory committee shall meet at least once every three years to review and update the list of qualified organizations and qualified peer trainers.

(j) A qualified organization may work with a training partner to provide the required training, provided that the qualified organization has entered into a written partnership agreement with the training partner. As used in this subdivision, “training partner” means a nonprofit, worker center, or labor organization with at least two years of demonstrated experience in addressing workplace sexual abuse, immigrants’ rights advocacy, and worker rights advocacy.

(k) (1) If the internet website list of qualified organizations that provide peer trainers to employers required to provide training to nonsupervisors under this section indicates there is no qualified peer trainer available to provide training in a specific county, or if none of the qualified trainers are available to meet an employer’s training needs, an employer may use a trainer as prescribed by the Civil Rights Department with respect to sexual harassment training and education to provide training to covered workers working in that specific county.

(2) An employer governed by this part shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirement to use a peer trainer to provide the required training if they contracted with a qualified organization that was listed on the department’s internet website at the time of the training.