California employers with five or more employees received a reprieve in complying with the new Harassment Training Law. The original bill, SB 1343, required that training be done by January 1, 2020, but under SB 778, signed in September 2019 by Governor Newsom, California employers have until January 1, 2021, to train employees on sexual harassment prevention

—a one-year extension.

The only caveat is that the deadline is not extended for seasonal and temporary employees hired to work for less than six months. Per the original SB 1343, starting January 1, 2020, these employees must be trained within 30 calendar days of their hire date or before they work 100 hours.

SB 778 also clarifies that employers who train their employees in 2019, assuming such training has met the requirements of SB 1343, will not be required to provide refresher training until two years from the date the employee was trained.

For additional information on SB 778, go to https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB778