On Feb. 20, Brian Koegle and David Poole of Poole & Shaffery, LLP, presented its annual Employment Law Update to the Valley Industry Association of Santa Clarita.
With the landscape of California business constantly in a state of flux, the one-hour presentation provided a “30,000-foot perspective” on some of the larger issues facing employers.
Among the topics were the updated notice requirements for California employers. The standard postings that most employers purchase do not include two critical notifications required under new California laws.
The first posting pertains to the Prevention of Human Trafficking and is required pursuant to Senate Bill (SB) 1193. An employer who fails to display this required poster is liable for a civil penalty of $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.
Similarly, all employers are required to display a poster regarding Transgender Rights pursuant to SB396. Failure to display the Transgender Rights poster can lead to action by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, including obtaining a court order requiring compliance.
To aid employers in complying with the ever-changing posting requirements, Mr. Koegle and Mr. Poole provided copies of the required posters at the presentation. The posters are also available on Poole & Shaffery’s website at www.pooleshaffery.com/scv-bj.
The presentation also discussed the importance of harassment prevention compliance, which has become a hot topic in light of the recent #metoo and “Time’s Up” movements. California law requires employers of 50 or more employees to provide harassment prevention training to all supervisory employees every two years. All employers in California also have an affirmative duty under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment, discrimination and/or retaliation in the workplace, which would include providing such preventative training sessions.
Poole & Shaffery provides on-site harassment prevention trainings that comply with both AB1825 (Training for Supervisors/Managers) and AB2053 (Training regarding abusive conduct). These trainings are entertaining and informative and cover:
- What qualifies as harassment in the workplace;
- The scope of liability for employers and employees alike;
- Strategies to prevent harassment from occurring or recurring; and,
- Best practices in workplace investigations.
For further information about the training sessions, call 661-290-2991. If you missed the live presentation, the entire video is at https://tinyurl.com/y9gxktve.
Cecilie E. Read is Counsel in the labor and employment practice group at Poole & Shaffery, LLP.
